Today's Training

[Travs]

As it was supposed to be the commencement of the track season this week, our club session this week was strongly biased towards that...

6 x 1min HARD efforts, with 3 minutes rest period.

As it was a short and sharp one, i did it on treadmill last night, then repeated it on a road hill (3 up 3 down) tonight.

Tough on both nights. On the treadmill really pushing the leg speed hard, and just have to knock the minute out or fall off... and on the road, running the efforts hard as possible for the first uphill/downhill rep, then beating your marker on the subsequent efforts.

I did find a point tonight on the downhill reps where i felt i could not accelerate any faster as i simply don't have the required leg speed/turnover... (it was a moderate slope, perhaps 7 or 8% max gradient).... i've barely ever managed to reach that point on a fell race as simply don't have the nerve to push the speed that hard on the fell.

[Witton Park]

First run since hip problem last Friday, although I've walked every day clocking up 33 miles.

Just to the Post Office and then a few loops on the grass of Fenniscliffe playing fields before heading home.

3 miles, 26:46 and felt OK ish.

[Witton Park]

Back out again early. Got something on today.

What a lovely morning for a grass run around Witton and back across Feniscliffe.

3.14 mile, 26:49

Can feel the hip still, but likely to be 3 days of walking now as the wife is off until Monday.

[Travs]

Ran the local parkrun course again this morning. Experimented with starting slower and trying to run very relaxed and consistently throughout.

Ran the first small lap (perhaps just over a km) 20 seconds slower than last time, and finished up 16 seconds quicker overall.

20:12..... still disappointing. Perhaps it's the increased mileage... i have took it easy the past 48hrs but still did 2 hard sessions at start of week, and 10 easy miles yesterday... or perhaps the lack of competition running a solo time-trial... but i'm struggling to find the difference between last summer when i was pushing 18:30 and what i'm doing now.

Will have another attempt this time next week, trying to push it a bit harder than today, in what may be my final week of furlough.

[Witton Park]

Proud of the wife today. Previously 2 x 3 mile runs in January.

Today 6.9 miles, 84 minutes, 750ft around the Beamers Trail as a run/walk.

[Travs]

Another solid week numbers wise... 67.5 miles, 15,750ft

Debating having either a) a week of only easy running, b) all easy apart from one club session, or c) all easy apart from one parkrun effort...

Just to mix things up. Although this evenings announcement throws a few other possibilities into the mix too...!

[matthew]

Ran the local parkrun course again this morning. Experimented with starting slower and trying to run very relaxed and consistently throughout.

Ran the first small lap (perhaps just over a km) 20 seconds slower than last time, and finished up 16 seconds quicker overall.

20:12..... still disappointing. Perhaps it's the increased mileage... i have took it easy the past 48hrs but still did 2 hard sessions at start of week, and 10 easy miles yesterday... or perhaps the lack of competition running a solo time-trial... but i'm struggling to find the difference between last summer when i was pushing 18:30 and what i'm doing now.

Will have another attempt this time next week, trying to push it a bit harder than today, in what may be my final week of furlough.

I'm massively surprised on your mileage you are only hitting 20.12 for 5k. I would have thought if you've upped your mileage you might be overly fatigued/over trained and need a block of recovery. But that's just my tuppence, you know your body

[Travs]

Thanks Matthew...

Well my pb is 18:34, so I'm inclined to agree with you totally.

I do have to say that my Parkrun course is a tough one. Plenty of twists and turns, 7 turns which are almost hairpins, and two hills which by road standards really do slow you down.

However I got my 18:34 on this course last July so not making excuses.

Im also working on a theory that my two recent attempts have "failed" due to not warming up sufficiently... I usually run down to my Parkrun, about two miles, but last couple of weeks I've drove down and just done a few strides before starting.

I do think the lack of competition is also a big thing.

[PeteS]

Lot to be said for a good warm up. When I used to do park run, this was something I incorporated into my Saturday morning. Used to do at least 15-20 minutes gradual build up - enough to make you out of breath and break into a sweat without dipping into the reserves too much. I contributed this to my finally breaking 20 minutes - a barrier I had been at for too long. Got down to 19:10 in the end - Not been for a while but I think I'd be glad to be sub-21 these days!
The competition element is definitely a big thing too - you know the people who run at the same pace or slightly quicker and that gives you a good "hare" to chase down.

[Travs]

I went cross-city to run one of the regular club routes. A 6.5 mile run with a 2.1 mile time-trial in the middle.

Managed the 2.1 mile effort in 12:42, which is only half a second off my pb, and is around 6:03/mile (or around 18:50/5km) pace. So i'm no closer to solving the mystery of my parkrun struggles, as the legs are still obviously there.

Suspecting it's a combination of insufficient warmup, and lack of competition.

Caused some concern to a dog-walker today who coincidentally happened to be right near to the "finish line" of my effort... as i threw myself over the line and was bent double in a groaning heap of sweat, he was pretty shocked and asked if i needed help... managed to gasp out that no i was fine and was actually having fun...