Week 8 Training and Wolverhampton parkrun

Week 8 Training

On Monday I headed out with Simon J, Aaron and Graham for what was supposed to be an easy recovery run.  I had run 17 miles and Aaron had smashed his 10 mile PB at Wimborne the day before so we were both wary of pushing too hard, however I have come to realise that telling Simon you want to take it easy just spurs him on to run further and faster.  He took us on a hilly meandering route around Lower Parkstone, Canford Cliffs and Branksome Park.  It ended up as just over 5 miles at a little over 8 minutes per mile. 

Tuesday was the usual evening club run.  Plan was to run 10 miles and around 9-930 a mile pace.  The run was spiced up a bit by storm Barney blowing a gale in and around the South of England.  Due to the weather we decided to run in land.  We headed around Meyrick Park, through Tolbot Woods and up to Bournemouth University.  We then ran back through Alder Hills and down to Coy Pond.  We then ran a long lap of Bournemouth Gardens before heading back to the office.  The pace for the first 8 miles was quicker than usual (especially with the hills) and averaged out at about 8:30 a mile and this was just too strong for me.  By mile 9 I was struggling and mile 10 was more of a shuffle than a run.  It was an enjoyable run but I think the last two miles were my bodies way of saying "look pal, you aren't there yet, don't be stupid".  

Wednesday and, due to work, I was once again up early to do a morning 10km. I couldn't drum any company up though so ran on my own.  I decided to do the usual route that Simon and I tend to do, but finishing up The Avenue instead of Alum Chine.  I was pleased that less than 12 hours after the struggle the night before I was able to keep up a steady 9 minute pace for the majority of the run.  The tail end of storm Barney helped by pushing me along the front but overall a very pleasing run. 

Thursday I had decided to do a double run as I was unlikely to get a decent run in on Friday.  So once again I put a call out for people to join me for an early morning 10km (note; not once have I actually run 10km in the morning, they always end up longer).  Simon J stepped up and decided to come and join me again.  We went a different route to usual and headed directly out from Westbourne down to Sandbanks.  We headed out along the peninsular as far as the roundabout before turning and heading back along the beach front.  As we had a bit of time before we were due in the office we cracked on to the Mausoleum (Branksome Dean Chine) and ran back to the office from there to just tick over the 7 mile mark for the morning.  It was another quick run, averaging just over 8:40 a mile, but I felt good and the company was great.

The second run of the day was a standard Tedious with Aaron and Emily. The weather had turned by lunchtime so we headed out in the pouring rain and blustery wind. I think the inclement conditions contributed to us setting off faster than usual, going through 5km in just under 25 mins and finishing the 4.4 mile route in around 37 mins.


Friday ended up as a rest day.  This was mainly due to me travelling up to Birmingham for a weekend break with Sarah.  I did manage a short stint in the swimming pool, although it was so cold I just went and sat in the Jacuzzi and the steam room.  It felt like exercising but in reality was just sitting around doing nothing.  Bliss. 

Saturday saw me parkrunning in Wolverhampton (the closest one to the hotel).  I headed out at around 8 am and soon realised that the cold snap that we had been promised had finally arrived.  It was FREEZING!!  After negotiating the many many many traffic lights and roundabouts between Dudley and Wolverhampton I reached West Park.  I parked easily and headed into the park. In such a built up and fairly commercial area it was lovely to find a park that was so pretty.  It had everything a "classic" park should have.  Lovely treelined path ways, expanses of green, a bandstand and a lovely little lake at one end. The park also had plenty of free parking in the surrounding roads and a clean set of toilets (10p to use them though).

It was almost a perfect parkrun location, with a concrete path around the perimeter that was a mile in length and nice and wide to fit all the eager runners.  It was slightly uphill from the start before dropping downhill (not a massive amount, but enough to enable you to speed up) to the lowest point of the course (just beyond the lake) and then all the way back up to the top of the course.  

I made my way over to the event team who were just starting set-up and they were so friendly.  They took time out of the set-up to ask me where I was from and what Winchester parkrun was like.  They explained how the run had come about and took me through the course and what the run was like.  It was really good of them and made me feel really welcome.  I went for a short warm-up before congregating at the start with the other brave runners.  It was so cold that I had decided to run in my Westbourne RC hoody, which I planned to take off after the first lap but ended up wearing all the way through. 

At the gun I started running but wasn't feeling particularly warmed up so took the first lap fairly steadily.  I then pushed on the second lap and was amazed to be lapped 3/4 of the way round by the eventual winner (he ran 16:05).  As soon as I started the final lap I decided that I would not let anyone pass me, so I pushed and pushed my pace and ran my fastest lap to finish in 24:24 (although my Garmin had 24:00).  

All in all a throughly enjoyable parkrun and one I would like to revisit when fully fit as I think it is a potential PB course.    





Sunday and originally I was due to be up at friends in Stoke but unfortunately they were not well so I was back home.  I stuck to my plan of 10 miles, despite being tempted to go further.  The intention this week was to give my legs a bit of a rest following a few heavy weeks of running so I had always planned a shorter long run.  

I therefore once again headed down to the sports centre to do a couple of my normal loops.  It was a bitterly cold morning and the car thermometer said it was minus 3 when I set off to run.  Luckily I had dressed appropriately and was sexily dressed in my running tights, 2 t-shirts and a sweatshirt.  I also added a buff to keep my massive ears warm and gloves to keep my delicate fingers roasty toasty.  Despite this I was still FREEZING!!.  

When I reached the High Street the Christmas tree and lights were up and it looked beautiful.  It was like running through a winter wonderland!  I then headed out along St Cross road and as the sun started to rise the sky went the most amazing mixture of purples, oranges, yellow and reds.  It was beautiful and I felt so lucky to be out to see it when so many were still in bed.  

I took the first lap fairly steadily and tried to push it a little more on the second.  My fastest mile was mile 10, which, given my performance on Tuesday, was really really pleasing.  I felt strong and comfortable at the end and could've easily gone further.  

Another week towards my target ticked off! 11 weeks to go until The Thames Trot!!

Summary

I had aimed for the week to be lower intensity and a lower mileage than the previous weeks.  I ended up running further than planned and faster than planned, but I was really pleased with my performance and have ended the week feeling strong and raring to go for next week.

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	10	42.6
Actual	5.16	10.00	6.34	11.36	-	3.10	10.07	46.03
Time	42:44	1:31:04	57:41	1:38:34	-	24:01	1:34:02	6:48:06
Pace (Min/Mile)	8:17	9:06	9:06	8:40	-	7:45	9:20	8:52

I have now hit 160 miles for November and am averaging an hours running a day!  

Next Week

The plan for next week is basically what this week was supposed to be...a lower mileage, lower intensity week.  I have a massage on Friday so may take that as a rest day and double run on either Wednesday or Thursday.  On Saturday I will be at Winchester parkrun for my birthday parkrun, I'm hoping that Olivia will join me but suspect she may want to stay in the warm with Sarah!!  Sunday I will be running a shorter long run (10 miles or so) and hoping that turning 38 hasn't had a negative effect on my running ;-).

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
23-Nov	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	10

Have a good week everyone, see you next week! 

Week 7 Training

Week 7 Training

After the long run the previous day my legs were still recovering when I got to Monday.  Due to work commitments I was unable to run at lunchtime as usual so decided to head out after work for a short beach front run.  I had intended to do a simple 5km loop of down The Avenue, along the prom and back through Alum Chine gardens, however the gardens weren't lit so I ran to Durley Chine instead and back through Westbourne.  The route ended up being around half a mile longer than I had hoped but I kept up a good pace (assisted by a strong tail wind) and was pleased that I had dragged myself out.

Tuesday was the long evening club run.  I had aimed to do 10 miles and the usual suspects (Jill and Aaron) were going to join me.  We had decided to do the Poole Park route.  This involves running from Westbourne, through Penn Hill and down to Lilliput village.  From here we would go into Poole Park via the Whitecliff entrance, round the boating lake, under the underpass into Baiter and then back round the harbour until we reached the marina.  From here we would head back through Branksome park and back to the office.  This route is normally around 8.5-9 miles so we would then have to add a loop on to make up the required distance.  That was the plan anyway!!

Unfortunately as the group got a couple of miles in to the run one of the runners started feeling ill. Not wanting to take any chances we called his wife to collect him.  The main group ran on whilst Captain John and I stuck around.  Once he was safely collected we ran on trying to find the group.  We followed the route detailed above but instead of running round the lake we short cut across the back to the underpass.  From here we decided to cut across Baiter park (genius idea in the pitch black) and join the harbour side path (which was also not lit).  Unfortunately the group had seen sense and decided to go a safer route back through Parkstone, so John and I finished off the route on our own.  As we had cut short to try and catch up we came in at around 7.5 miles, so a couple miles down on what I had hoped to run.  Having said that it was a thoroughly enjoyable run with John and meant my legs were still fairly fresh for the following day.

As I have said previously I am not a slave to my training plan.  If circumstances dictate that I can't run then I will be flexible with my plans.  Wednesday was one such example.  On Thursday I was unable to run due to attending and presenting at a conference, coupled with slightly shorter than planned mileage on Monday and Tuesday I decided to run twice on Wednesday.  

The first run was my early morning "10km" (not once been 10km so far!).  As ever Simon Jury was there, but this week we were also joined by Scott Harris.  We decided to repeat the previous week's route and aim to run 7 miles in under an hour.  It was a nice morning for it; although bad weather was forecast we missed it and again were safely in the office before it hit.  Having run 7.5 miles just the evening before I was pleased and surprised to be feeling ok in the morning.  We kept up a respectable pace and it was only up through the Alum Chine gardens where i started to struggle with a bot of tiredness.  Once again though we ducked in just under the one hour mark (although I didn't stop my watch so my actual time was a little over!

My second run of the day was the lunchtime club run.  Once a month we have a larger group go out and we try and encourage potential new members to come and join us. We tend to split into a faster group (who run slightly further) and a not so fast group and we try and meet up along the way.  My bravado meant that even though my legs were tired I ran with the faster group.  The route went around the back roads of Branksome park before coming out on Canford Cliffs Road, down to Penn Hill and back to the office.  The pace was under the 8:30 a mile mark and I was just about able to stick with it for the first few miles but as we got onto Canford Cliffs Road we met the not so fast group and I decided that rather than killing myself for another mile and a half I would have a nice leisurely jog in and chat with a few of the others.  I ended up doing 4.5 miles in 43 mins and really enjoyed it!

This meant that Thursday was a rare treat; A REST DAY!!  Prior to that I had run 27 consecutive days and over 170 miles so my body was due a rest and boy did I need it!  I did toy with the idea of a late night 5km tor when I got home but settled for an early night.  It paid dividends as I felt completely refreshed over the weekend.   

So Friday came and I was due to do an interval session, but by this point I had decided to dial back the training a little to allow myself a bit more recovery time.  I therefore headed out with Guy and Glenn for a Cliff top tedious route.  It was a very pleasant lunchtime trot of just under 4.5 miles.  We chatted most of the way round and I felt fit and strong.  The previous days rest had done me the world of good.

Saturday and I found myself back at Winchester parkrun for my 69th outing.  I once again volunteered to set-up, however Olivia decided that she would stay in bed in the warm, so I was on my own.  After laying out the cones and putting the signs in place I headed to the start and chatted to some of the other runners.  The horrific news from Paris was trickling through and it made me think about parkrun as a community and how it doesn't care what race, religion, colour, size, age, sex or sexual orientation you are, everyone is there to just enjoy a simple 5km run in a park.  Everyone gets treated equally and everyone gets the same amount of support regardless.  If only more communities were like that, maybe the world would be a better place.  Anyway I digress.  

River Park has taken a battering recently.  With the fireworks last weekend and heavy rain in the week the course is muddy and fairly churned up in places.  Some areas were hard to run on and caution was needed on the many turns.  This wasn't held by it starting to rain just before the off and not stopping the whole way round. 

I set off at a fairly steady pace (a little under 8min/mile) and maintained this for the first 2 laps.  The third lap I tried to push it a little bit and tried not to get overtaken.  I succeeded on both counts and came home in 77th place (4th in my age category) in 24:17.  Another really enjoyable run and my legs were feeling good ahead of my long run!  

Sunday, and once again I set my alarm for 6am, got ready and headed out before 6:30.  Aim was to do 17 miles.  Last week I had decided to deliberately drop my pace down and make it as easy as possible, but this week I wanted to push the pace a little to see how it felt and how my body reacted.  The plan was to run from home down to St Cross Road and from there join my usual loop (4.75 miles around St Cross, the water meadows and the High Street) before running to the sports centre to meet Sarah and Olivia for a swim.  I had set aside 3 hours for the run so that I wasn't late.

Starting early I dressed for cold weather, however I got outside only to find it was a surprisingly mild morning.  I therefore ditched the jacket at home and set off.  The first few miles were fairly undulating.  I started by heading down hill for a half mile before heading uphill (including the never-ending Chilbolton Avenue) for a mile and a half.  I then turned and ran down Stanmore for a mile.  This meant my pace for the first 5km was all over the place.  

Once I got onto my standard loop I was able to settle and it was amazing how the miles flew by.  I was trying to keep my pace under 10 min/mile and succeeded for most of the way with 15 of the 17 miles between 9 and 10 min/mile (I even dropped in a 9:19 at mile 15). 

The run itself was pretty uneventful with the usual smattering of runners and dog walkers giving me cheerful early morning greetings and the pretty standard obstacle course that is the Sunday market set-up.  

Before long I found myself turning off of the high street and heading for the sports centre.  A short detour was needed so I didn't fall just short of target but I was pleased to stop the watch at 2h45m for the 17 miles.    Last week I ran a mile less but it took me 5 minutes longer, so this shows a marked improvement in my stamina.  I also believe that the rest day really helped give me the recovery I needed to perform at a higher standard.  

Immediately following the run I swam (well more like sat in the shallow end whilst Olivia played with her dive sticks) for an hour with Olivia and Sarah.   This was probably the best thing I could've done because it really loosened my legs and kept me moving.  This has meant that as I sit here writing this blog my legs are once again raring to go!!

Summary

All in all a good week.  I was slightly short on my target mileage, despite a rest day, and really lowered the intensity of the runs.  This meant I finished the week strong and 12 weeks out from the Thames Trot I am in really good shape.  Here is my breakdown:

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	17	49.6
Actual	3.66	7.47	11.40	-	4.41	3.14	17.00	47.08
Time	32:40	1:10:35	1:43:44	-	39:51	24:17	2:45:12	7:16:19
Pace (Min/Mile)	8:55	9:27	9:06	-	9:03	7:43	9:43	9:16

Next Week

Next week I have planned to drop the mileage down slightly.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  Firstly I need time to recover and secondly I am away Friday-Monday staying with friends and it is not very sociable to go out for a 20 mile run pre-breakfast!

I will be up in Birmingham on Friday night so I have a good opportunity to do a new parkrun.  Not sure where yet, but I'm very excited about the prospect. 

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
16-Nov	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	10

See you next week!

Week 6 Training

Week 6 Training

As per my last blog this week's training was a step up in distance from the previous week.  I had aimed to keep my weekly runs the same but increase the distance of the longer run, but I felt good so ended up running more miles than expected.

Monday again was another "Tedious". After my long run on the Sunday I needed an easy session to just turn my legs over, so a standard lunchtime Tedious was perfect.  The group that I went out with were slightly quicker than I had hoped for, but my legs responded well and it turned into a great run. 4.5 miles in a little over 38 minutes.  

Tuesday was the standard evening club run and I had managed to convince few others to join me in running a half marathon.  We decided to run the normal meandering route around Lower Parkstone and up and over evening hill.  We then ran around the Sandbanks headland past the chain ferry and back to the Harbour Heights hotel.  We then ran up the hill and around the cliff top, before dropping down to Branksome chine, along the front and through the gardens as far as Coy Pond.  We then doubled back along Surrey Road, up Prince of Wales road and back to the office.  

This route starts off fairly hilly with three big hills in the first few miles.  After Evening hill it flattened off for a few miles before we turned to go up past the Harbour Heights hotel  Despite feeling fresh at the start I struggled after the Haven Road hill.  I slogged through Canford Cliffs village, but then got into a steady rhythm along the front. It wasn't easy but I was still running.  The last few miles were a real struggle, specially up through Bournemouth Gardens.  Aidan and I were regularly dropped off the back of the group, but we kept plodding on.  We finished in 2:04, which for a training half marathon is not too shabby, but I was disappointed that my pace dropped off so much in the last few miles.  Something to work on.

Huge thanks to Aaron, Aidan, Jill and David for the company!!

Wednesday and Aaron and I decided to try and push ourselves on a Short Library route.  The night before was still lingering in our legs, but we were able to keep a good pace all the way round. We clocked a little short of 5 miles in under 42 minutes.

Thursday morning and once again Simon Jury joined me for an early morning 10km. Despite the forecasts the weather held off and we had the benefit of the wind behind along the front.  We decided to go slightly further than last week and ran as far as Alum Chine, up through the gardens and back to the office. It wasn't as quick as the previous week but it was a good run and a great way to start the day.

On Friday Aaron and I went out for another Interval session.  If I'm honest I didn't really want to do it.  It was a wet and windy (see the cliff top picture left) and I just wanted to plod round for 45 minutes and retire back to my desk for lunch.  However, Aaron pushed me out the door and we headed up to the cliff top for the intervals.  Aaron had had a bit of a stressful morning and running angry means running fast, so If I'm honest by the time we actually got to the start point for the intervals I was knackered!  Last week I only managed 8 reps but this week I made the full 10, but each rep was slower and the recovery sections were longer. I was glad that I did it, but it could've been better.  Rule of the day is - STRESSED AARON=FAST AARON=PAINFUL RUN

Saturday was once again parkrun day!  This time I was attending my first inaugural at Moors Valley.  It was a horrible, horrible day with heavy rain and strong winds. It was good to see so many familiar faces there and it was a great turn out from the Westies.  Nice also to see former colleague, friend and golfing buddy Richard, who is running fantastically well at the moment.  Spirits were high before the run with the normal pre-run banter in full flow.  The turn out was superb, but unfortunately this made the run briefing inaudible and we were still trying to take a few selfies when the run actually started!  

With a large turnout and a narrow start there was some congestion at the start which made the first few hundred yards a little stop-start.  I was also a little slower at first as I had to stop to splash Chris Street with some mud (I know I'm a child but I just couldn't resist).  Anyway I soon found myself running and chatting with Captain John and Chris.  The first half mile or so had the majority of the mud and puddles so was a little slow going, but my legs were feeling good and so I managed to push on and up the pace.  I ran alongside Liz Yelling (Commonwealth Marathon medalist and two time Olympian) for a while.  She was pushing a double buggy around the course and was having to work so much harder than the rest of us, especially up the hills!  Huge respect to her.

The course wound its way around the country park and skirted alongside the Moors Valley golf course.  It was run mainly on hard packed gravel paths and undulated gently.  It eventually reached a small out and back section and from there it was downhill to the finish.  The route joined the concrete path around the lake and turned into the finishing straight.  

Coming into the last half mile I managed to catch Jenny Walker-Leach running with her super quick young son.  Then, in the distance, I spotted Super Geoff.  I was catching him and so gave it everything I could and managed to catch him just before the turn into the finish.  A short sprint and I was home.  23:57 was my official time and I was in 100th place.  A few more post run selfies were taken and then I headed off home.  Soaked but happy!              

Moors Valley is certainly somewhere I will revisit in the future (probably when the weather is better).  It has everything you could want from a 5km; a challenging one lap course, good support, good facilities and plentiful onsite parking (only £1).   Thank you once again to the Westies for making it such an enjoyable run!

Sunday was once again my long run.  With the distance going up I had decided that I wanted to get round the 15 miles as easily as possible.  With one eye of the Ultra I felt that the best way to achieve this was to drop my pace right down and get to the end as fresh as possible.  

As we currently have no hot water or heating I decided to start and finish my run at the local sports centre.  I headed down there a little after 630 in the morning and set off on my run.  The plan was to run one lap around the reed beds before heading to the high street and joining my normal St Cross/Water Meadows loop for 3 laps (4.75 miles each) and then back to the sports centre.  However as soon as I started running around the reed beds I realised that the huge meal and couple of pints from the night before were not sitting well.  With the sports centre and public conveniences closed I was contemplating an emergency stop in the bushes when I spied the portaloos from the previous night's fireworks.  After a quick pitstop the "decks were cleared" and I was able to properly start my run and I headed to the high street.

I enjoy the early morning runs around the city.  It is great seeing the city come to life and go from being like a quiet village to a bustling metropolis.  On my first lap I saw the city just starting to stir.  The occasional dog walker and fellow brave/mental runners were there to give me a weary morning welcome. The first lap flew by, despite my slower pace.  I was lost in my own thoughts and before I knew it I was back at the statue of King Alfred and about to start my second lap.

As I headed up the high street I ran the gauntlet of the farmers market set-up.  Vans covered the pedestrianised areas and I had to avoid doors flying open, hurdle boxes of prime venison sausages and dodge farmers carrying trays of freshly baked produce.  After a number of supportive shouts from the stall holders (including one Run Forrest, Run) I reached the top of the high street and headed down St Cross road for the second lap.  By the time I reached the water meadows the paths were starting to fill with even more dog walkers and runners.  There were also numerous groups of cyclists just starting off on their lycra clad odysseys.  

On the third lap the market was in full swing and people had started to congregate for the Remembrance Day parade.  This made the route a little slower as I dodged around all the group of people.  I was also starting to tire a bit and so my pace naturally dropped.  I was enjoying the run though and kept plodding on.  I soon reached the end of the third lap and, after a small diversion due to the parade, I headed back to my car.  I had mis-judged the distance and ended up reaching 16 miles.  

Despite the extra mile I reached the end feeling good.  Although the pace was considerably slower than normal I was pleased to get to the end still feeling like I could run further if needed.  All in all a very enjoyable run!!

Summary

With the extra miles on the Tuesday night, Thursday morning and Sunday I managed to achieve my largest ever one week run total of just over 53 miles.  The most pleasing aspect was my recovery from the runs.  Despite running everyday I tended to wake up feeling good and ready to run again.  

I would like to thank everyone who ran with me and who pushed me to achieve more than my mind felt it could.  I'd also like to thank my beautiful wife Sarah for her ongoing support. 

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	15	47.6
Actual	4.51	13.1	4.89	6.86	4.75	3.16	16	53.27
Time	38:12	2:04:32	41:47	59:22	40:42	23:57	2:50:34	8:19:04
Pace (Min/Mile)	8:28	9:30	8:33	8:39	8:34	7:34	10:40	9:22

Next week

Aim for next week is to consolidate what I have done this week.  I am going to try and take it a little easier and save myself for my longer run on Sunday.  The run I am most looking forward to is parkrun at Winchester with my little girl :-)

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
02-Nov	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	17

Thank you all for reading...until next week...happy running!!

Week 5 Training

Week 5 Training

The plan for this week was to continue to slowly up the mileage and to introduce a quality session into the mix.  I also aimed to take my long run up to the 13 mile mark.

Monday I was off work and most of the day saw me travelling back from our short break in the Cotswolds.  Arriving home mid-afternoon I decided to go out straightaway and get the run out of the way.  It was a largely uneventful run.  I added some difficulty in by starting the run straight up the long and winding Chilbolton Avenue hill, but it was a case "getting the job done" and was easily the least enjoyable run of the week.

The Tuesday evening club run was the first since the clocks went back.  This means that large sections of the prom are now dark and dangerous to run (thank you Poole Council!), however this does mean that the routes through the winter tend to vary more than during the summer.  Tuesday saw us running along the cliff top from Westbourne before dropping down to the Pier.  We then ran up the other side (past Harry Ramsden's Fish and Chip shop which smelt WONDERFUL) and up onto the East Overcliff.  From here we ran into Boscombe and down to Boscombe Pier.  Then it was a case of back along the front as far as Bournemouth where the group split.  With 3 of us (Me, Jill and Aaron) continuing on for the full 10 miles.  

We ran along the length of the pier before following the beach front along to the bottom of the avenue.  From here we went back through Branksome Park and back up to Westbourne.  When we got to the office we were only at 9.9 miles so we looped until we had reached the full 10 (in around 1h33m).  It was an enjoyable run that felt like it got easier the further I ran.  The company was also excellent.  Special mention goes to Aaron who, in addition to the 10 miles, ran from his home in Parkstone and back afterwards for a total of 17 miles!!

Despite feeling good at the end of the club run the night before by the time it got to Wednesday lunchtime my legs were tired and running was difficult.  We once again put our trust in Simon "Chairman" Jury and he duly took us on a magical mystery tour around Meyrick Park and Tolbot Woods. Once again it was by no means flat and included a wicked set of steps towards the end of the run (see photo). Once again the company was good, with Sharon and I making sure no-one was left behind by bringing up the rear for most of the run!

For my Thursday morning 10km I was pleasantly surprised to have some company.  Simon Jury had seen my Facebook post and decided to join me.  We decided to run down through Penn Hill, along the back of Parkstone Golf Course to Sandbanks Road, down to the beach front and along to the bottom of the Avenue and back to work.  It was a nice morning and we both felt good, so decided to push the pace a little.  I was surprised and pleased to be able to put 3 sub 8 minute miles in along the way and felt great at the end of the run.  Not even a small incident involving me swallowing a leaf and throwing up (sorry people) could dampen my spirits.  The best thing was getting in to the office only for the heavens to immediately open and not stop!  A lucky escape!

On Friday Sharon, Aaron and I headed out for our first interval session (See above for more info) for a few months.  We jogged down to the cliff top near Bournemouth Pier and set about the session.  Our aim was to try and complete 7 reps at the fastest speed we felt we could maintain.  Aaron is the naturally quicker runner so he led the way with myself and Sharon following.  After a few reps Sharon felt her calf go so she stopped and chatted up passing old men ;-)  Whilst Aaron and I continued.  As I got to the end of my 7th rep, Aaron was finishing his 8th and we decided to do one more rep together.  Not wanting Aaron to beat me I gave everything I could and was pleased with the speed at which I was running (topping out at around 6:20 mileing, albeit over a shorter distance), especially at the end of the session.  We then jogged back to the office, looping occasionally to ensure Sharon was ok.  Once again I got back to the office and was just short of 5 miles, so a quick loop saw me get unto the full distance.  

Saturday is parkrun day and as I had Olivia I was running in Winchester.  Kids are allowed to run parkrun from the age of 4 and Olivia had previously completed the full 5km route, at Andover, shortly after reaching the required age.  That run was completed in 48:30 but took it out of her and so ever since I have left it up to her as to if she runs and how far she runs.  In the last few months she has been accompanying me down to Winchester and has tended to run a single lap (1 mile) before stopping. On Saturday as we headed down she announced that she wanted to try and run the whole way again. We were on set-up duty so did what we needed to do before lining up at the back of the main pack with Sarah, who had also decided to join us.  

Olivia and I set off at a steady pace and I was pleased and surprised that she managed to run the whole of the first lap, without stopping, in a little under 13 minutes.  She told me that she wanted to continue and try to do the second lap.  We run onwards and I noticed that we had slowly increased our pace to a little over 12 minutes/mile.  Despite a couple of short walking breaks Olivia and I completed the second lap with the clock at around the 25 minute mark.  By this point Olivia was insistent that she was going to finish and so we kept on running.  Realising that she only had to do one more lap she sped up again and we started catching people up.  With every person we overtook she seemed to get more energy and before long we were turning into the last 200 yards.  Olivia knew the end was in sight and so put in a final sprint finish with me just behind.  

Her finishing time was 36:29...a 12 minute PB.  She was so proud of herself and took great pride in getting her barcode scanned.  Sarah soon appeared round the corner for home and, assisted by Olivia, ran in to the finish for a sub-45 parkrun...not bad 16 weeks pregnant!!

The support shown to both Olivia and Sarah on their way round is a great example of what parkrun is all about.  Even the lead runner had words of encouragement for Olivia as he lapped us and he stayed to cheer her in to the finish.  The warm applause and kind words afterwards to both of my lovely ladies was really nice to hear and I couldn't be prouder of both of them!

Sunday morning was my "long run".  I had aimed to do 13 miles but on the day decided to run slightly further as it fitted better with the route I was taking.  It was a cold start to the day and the heavy mist that shrouded the Winchester water meadows and the Itchen River was a spooky reminder of the Halloween goings on the night before.  I had decided to run my normal loop (4.75 miles) around Winchester as it was fairly easy and offered me the ability to pick-up drinks/food at my car if needed or drop off unwanted clothing.          

The first lap was slow by my normal standards and it took me ages to get my legs working.  I kept thinking that they would ease up and I would start running more fluidly, but it didn't happen. The run became more of a plod than a run and I honestly considered cutting it down to two laps and going home with just 9.5 miles covered.  However with 14 weeks to go until the Thames Trot 50 I knew that I needed to start getting longer runs under my belt, so off I went on the 3rd lap.  I had my phone with me so I started playing some podcasts to keep my mind off of the running, this worked and it wasn't long before I had reached the viaduct and was on my last mile.  I was relieved to see my car appear out of the mist at St Catherine's Hill car park and know that, despite the heavy legs and slow running, I had stuck it out and got the job done.  14.25 miles in the bag at a little over 2h 15mins.  

Summary

I exceeded my mileage for the week and managed a few good sessions during the week.  Notably the Tuesday night run, the fast Thursday 10km and the intervals on Friday.  The highlight of the week though was parkrun and Olivia's joy of running a PB.  It's a memory that I will cherish.

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	13	45.6
Actual	4.65	10.02	4.79	6.51	5.06	3.07	14.29	48.39
Time	44:15	1:33:57	43:29	53:10	42:40	36:29	2:18:19	7:32:19
Pace (Min/Mile)	9:31	9:23	9:05	8:10	8:26	11:54	9:40	9:20

October saw me post 158.87 miles for the month over 26 sessions.  Averaging 6.11 miles per session!!

Next Week

The plan for next week is pretty much the same as this week, but the long run gets longer (15 miles).  I will be continuing with the intervals, but aiming to get up to the full set of 10.  Lastly I will be running the inaugural Moors Valley parkrun on the Saturday.

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
02-Nov	4.5	10	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	15