Regular Speedwork?

This is now the second Thursday on the trot and tonights session was; 7 x 800 meters with 90 seconds recovery. With the absence of Andy Pearson, there was no need to blast off like a rocket, and all the reps were done at a fast but even pace; 2:34 to 2:37. I tried to match the pace of Kevin(Ogden) and Keith(Magee) on all of the reps. There was a gap between me and Kevin, but not much, and this will gauge my fitness in the coming weeks.

I will be doing the Denby Dale pie eaters six mile race on the 20th December. This will be a low key race and mainly for the nosh up afterwards than the run. Then it is the Ribble Valley 10k, where I will be gunning for a sub 35 minute 10k.

Speedwork Shocker.

There was quite a turn out for last nights session on the track. A group of us mainly veteran runners(again) opted for a 5 x 300 meters + 4 x 600 meters + 5 x 300 meters session. With Longwoods Andy Pearson in attendence coach Dransfield decided on short recoveries. After a long absence from the track the watch was ignored and the rule of a fast even pace to the end was also ignored. After trying for years to disprove the theory of natural talent, I am begining to accept that the hard training route loses. To make sure Andy had a useful session, a plan of a suicidal pace to 200 meters and then agony for 100 meters hopefully helped him. I was surprised how I could outpace him for 200 meters, although I wasn't sure how hard he was trying. Keith Magee saved all the effort for the last 300 meter rep and beat Andy to the line. Kevin Ogden showed some good control of speed and endurance and gave me some idea of what will be needed to get a 34 minute 10k again.

Thanks to all who took part.

A Dash To The Abbey 2009

After 3 months off racing and training I couldn't even begin to predict a time for today. The Abbey Dash has developed into a monster race(8000 entries) and well done to the organisers who really did a good job of making sure this event went smoothly. Also the advances in technology means you can get your results sent by text message or virtually live from the internet. Remember those days waiting for the post to arrive so you could check your paper results!

The race itself was a bit crowded at the start, but as soon as the race started and with the roads closed there was plenty of room for the race to thin out. My race plan was set off at a steady pace and increase it if I felt comfortable. The legs felt good, though the absence of any speed work meant that steady 5-30 miling was unachievable. I tried to get close to Kevin Ogden but he seems to have got that bit extra after doing some usefull track training. I do like races where you get to look at the front runners comeing the other way. The leader looked to have at least a 30 second gap at the turnround point. I finished the race in 35-55 and seventh V45, but only 46 seconds off second V45.

Injury Woe And Race Pull-Out

This Knee injury still hasn't settled down, as a precautionary measure I have decided to give this Sundays Guy Fawkes race a miss. I think it's the first pre-entered race that I have ever missed and it hurts not to take part. I was looking forward to jogging along side Andy Pearson this year.

On instructions from the physio I am still doing loads of gym work, cross trainer and stretching I think I will be OK for the Abbey Dash.

If anybody want's a number for Sunday's race there is a form that they allow you to transfer over. I am not sure if it's too late to do it. Please e-mail if anybodys interested.

Battle Plan Re-starts

Having not raced since the Horsforth 10k I am ever eager to do battle again. A trip to the physio two weeks ago finally convinced me to lay off the running totally for a few weeks and to work on core strength and balance. I'd not heard of this before and I truthfully thought improving your running was just about progressively running harder and harder each session, with adequate rest inbetween. Long runs for stamina, hills for strength and track for speed. A soft tissue knee injury was really telling me something was wrong and I needed to sort it. The orthotics I had fitted seemed to work a bit but didn't cure the problem altogether, and a mix of core strength, balance and flexiblitity excercises needed to be done aswell. I have joined the local Total Fitness Gym and I am trying to build strength all round

I have pre-entered the Guy fawkes 10 mile and may run this as a tempo run. I have also entered the Abbey Dash, which will give me a few weeks prep time.

Horsforth 10k - Good start to new campaign

This Sundays 10k was at Horsforth. Conditions were ideal for running and an early start(10am) was beneficial to running. My first major race as a Vet 45 made me slightly nervous at the start.


The first 2 miles(approx) were uphill and then a slight downhill on the A65 towards the Leeds Outer Ring Road and then more downhill tawards Calverley. The last 2 miles were on the canal tow path and I really enjoyed this section. I was in forth place at one point having overtaken Duncan Clark(Abbey Runners), who is also V45. I was then passed by a young Bingley runner and at this point was in no position to give chase, saving all reserves in case Duncan was holding back for a sprint finish. I finished in fifth place in 35-54.


After the race my knee was a bit sore so I will be taking it steady for the next week or two. Probably doing some gym work and low impact stuff.


Next race will be the Guy Fawkes 10 mile in early November - if sore knee permits .

V45 - And The New Campaign

The day has finally arrived and I am now a V45. I will be making an assault on the V45 rankings and trying to get into the top twenty this year, with also a cautionary approach to training/racing and allowing for some recovery days.

I have done some nice and steady running this week(on returning from hols) and quite surprised that I felt quite good. I stuck to my plan of just doing a few runs on holiday with a few sessions of swimming and a lot of walking. Planning to do a steady long run this weekend. I have been offered a number for the Yorkshire Off Road Half Marathon, from my sister(Nicola), who is sidelined with a calf injury. Think I might give this one a miss though.

Next race 5k track race at Spen(20th Sept). Also Horsforth 10k, 27th Sept)