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!!
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