Half Marathon training 4/12

Nearly a month into my Richmond Half training. According to the plan I should have completed 14 runs, got some miles and some pace into my legs.
The week beginning July 21st was meant to be a four run week. Two speed sessions sandwiched by longer slow runs.

Run #1

Starting on Monday I was targeting 80 easy so picked the well known route out of Stansted, to Manuden, Rickling Green and then back to Stansted. This is a nice 12th route that includes a long climb up the hill as you leave Manuden. As I'm entered into the Manuden 10k later in the summer any practice up this reasonably tough climb is worthwhile. Once at the top you get a brief moment to relax downhill before a second, shorter climb as the lane undulates. In truth you then continue climbing for another kilometre or two, almost until Rickling, but the gradient isnt noticeable.
Though the pace was intended to be easy, I found myself consistently below 6:00/km without any effort. Rather than rein in my enthusiasm I kept up the pace and stayed relaxed. After having the country lane completely to myself I turned right as soon as I entered Rickling Green and started heading back south.
The next couple of clicks are alongside the main road, not normally a problem. Unfortunately with the weather recently everything has overgrown and the local councils haven't got on top of this. At one point I was thankful for a grass verge as the pavement was impassable. There were plenty of occasions where I was forced into running on the main road or found myself ducking and weaving more overgrown vegetation.
The last two kilometres were up the familiar Pennington Lane and back into Stansted. My pace had remained good throughout, so finishing my '80' in just over 70 minutes, clocking the 12km at a rate of 5:47/km. The run was very pleasing, it was the longest distance and amount of time I'd been out in a couple of months. To get progressively faster as the run continued was also very satisfying.

Run #2

Wednesday morning brought some speed work to the table in the form of fartlek training. As the format is easier with lampposts around I opted to stay within Stansted rather than head out into the country. I'd also noticed the climb from the train station up to Forest Hall School was now a section on Strava, I had to get myself on that leaderboard!
It took time to haul myself out of the house, I really didn't feel with it. The slightly later time meant that commuters heading to the station were greeted with some mad man sprinting, walking and doing some horrific jogging in between! I ended up doing nearly three laps of the Forest Hall estate, a perfect venue with neatly laid out lampposts to provide the fartlek markers.
This was the first time I'd completed a 40 minute fartlek session. Naturally my sprint pace tailed off a bit to the end, but the effort was strong throughout.

Run #3

Friday morning was another speed session. This time the target was just to run at tempo so I headed out on the Stansted loop. The weather was much cooler in the morning, though the humidity was still horrific.
There wasn't really much to write home about, a consistent 5:34/km pace. The legs were strong and I felt decent. A nice second tempo session for the week, perfect setup for the weekend.

parkrun Volunteering

My parkrun stint for the week started on the Friday evening. The Great Notley parkrun has already established a reputation for two things. Firstly the infamous hill of doom, secondly the table of cakes that greet runners (and volunteers) at the end of the run. 

Marshal position H, plus sign just in case the marshal is incompetent

With our kitchen finally serviceable, I wanted to add a contribution to the table. I'd normally try millionaires shortbread, but previous attempts had resulted in caramel that wouldn't set. Rather than bring disaster to my second volunteering stint I decided to take a safer option. A sausage roll is always a good way to finish a run and using a recipe I'd picked up on instagram from Elly Pear I put some together for post run goodness.
The volunteering went to plan this time, no one running inadvertently off course! When I got back to the race HQ the sausage rolls were fast disappearing and appeared to be going down well. 

Batch of sausage rolls (more sausage boats) for post parkrun enjoyment

The recipe for those interested: sausagemeat (I usually just take some regular sausages and skin then, this occasion they were the Cumberland variety), puff pastry, add a bit of chutney alongside the meat. Wrap the pastry round, glaze with milk (or egg) and then sprinkle a combination of smoked salt, garlic granules, nigella seeds, dried onion & sesame seeds (the last two ingredients were missed out on for the parkrun batch). Cook until awesome!

Mega sausage rolls at home for lunch with the leftover sausagemeat. Added some stilton for extra awesomeness!