Leeds Half and another 5k

Last Sunday(8th May) it was the Leeds Half Marathon, which i'd hastily entered, not quite realising it was sandwiched in the middle of a series of 5k events. I did the same silly thing last year and somehow forgot just how silly it was.

It was humid conditions last week which suited me well for the race. My plan was to set of steady and try to have something left for the last 4 mile section along Kirkstall Road. The course is hilly for the first 7 miles. Last year I 'overcooked' the first half and then really struggled along the final section. I planned to use this as a tempo session and a 'train through race' therefore no tapering for this one. I 'locked on' to Duncan Clarke after a few miles and managed to then overtake and gain some ground.

The Leeds Half has now turned into a large event with approximately 3500 runners taking part. The absence of 'serious' club runners helped my cause with a 25th placing and second vet45 - missing out on first v45 by 13 seconds. Setting off with the frame of mind not to race was probably the right thing to do and made fully sure I didn't suffer too much and saved at least something for the Wednesday night.

Last Wednesday nights race was the second of 3 x 5k races at Esholt. This one was not the Yorkshire Vets 5k Champs so there were some different runners to before. Calm and humid conditions were perfect. I set off steady and hoped to gain ground on Rob Gray at the 2.5k mid point. Just losing out by a few seconds at the end but dipping just under 17 minutes at 16-59, with one second between me and Rob for second v45 over the two races.

Race for fitness.

A week on the Isle of White seemed like a good idea - with a planned mix of family pursuits and training. I'd set off with the intention of an active rest and recovery break - sometimes called the family holiday! The Rothwell 10k was entered on the Bank Holiday Monday and something had to be done to stop the fitness decline. I have to admit to catching the lazy bug and only ended doing a few short morning runs. This meant that the Rothwell 10k produced a below par performance (36-41) and nowhere near the V45 prizes.

The next race was the first of a series of 3 x 5k races run on following Wednesdays from the village of Esholt, with the first one on the 4th May. Surprisingly, I felt better at the start of this race than the Rothwell one and very nearly managed a sub 17 minutes. This was helped by a hard fought tussle for the finish with Wetherby runner Rob Grey. The time was 17 minutes and this will hopefully provide a guide to any improvements of fitness after the next 2 races.

On Sunday it's the Leeds Half Marathon and I will using this to build fitness and to gain race stamina for a mid summer key race - possibly Eccup 10 mile.