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