No marathon to run...... so the question is why do long runs? the answer to this is; on a personal point of view, long runs enable me to train, do speed work, and recover faster.
This weeks long run inco-operated the Rothwell 10k -which I will be running in a few weeks time. The total milage was 16.76 miles in 1:57:31 mins - all done at an average pace of 7-01 minutes per mile. Sounds easy? not for a 35 minute 10k man like me and my legs hurt a lot even today(wednesday).
Because I felt so good after the few days resting up when I hit the road again it felt like I was gliding along. I suppose this is the equivalent of a tapering effect, and is probably how I should feel when I am actually racing.
The Rothwell 10k race is scheduled for bank holiday Monday the 4th of May. I was looking at the entries and once again there are some good runners listed to run. Ian Fisher, Andy Pearson, Carl Thackery, John Convery and Tim Midgeley were some names that stood out. I will not be worried about them, as I will be running my own race trying to beat the 35 minute mark again. This is just to prove the Wakefield 10k was not a one off sub 35.
The Rothwell Harriers really do a good job of organising and increasing the popularity of this event. It is usually a 'book early' race because the numbers have been restricted in previous years. This year they have increased the amount of entries to 1000 and this has helped those who like to leave it to the last minute(like me).
1 comment:
Hi Anthony, I agreed - think the long runs are key. I've missed quite a few this year and have noticed quite an impact on my fitness even though I'm not racing long distances. For info I ran Wakefield Hospice 10k last year in 37.53 then did Rothwell in 37.05. Big differential though I understand the Wakefield course was changed this year. I'm stil pretty sure there aren't many that are faster than Rothwell. I'm sure you'll be on for a great time with runs like that to build on. Keep it up!
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