HM 8/12 - Starting to add some distance

With a rest week over it was time to start adding some miles into my training as the final approach for Richmond looms. Yet again I'll be going into a major race thinking I'm lacking those long runs, but I'll have to just accept that is the case and be confident in my speed, if not my stamina.

The plan was to run on Monday, a nice long run to make up for a missed Sunday, then some speed work during the week & a parkrun on Saturday if work allowed for it. Instead on Monday morning I just wasn't feeling it. Struggling to get out the door I decided to run the usual loop & then deferred my long run to Wednesday as I'd be working from home & time wouldn't be an issue.

Run #1

Once out of the house I got into a rhythm and shook the complacency out of my system. I even deviated my route, deciding to head out to the Forest Hall Estate upon reaching the end of Lime Kiln Lane rather than the usual run back through the village. Having a slight change of route made for a more interesting run, reminding me that it won't be long before I have to pack away the country routes & stay within the street lights for the winter months.

After a good few climbs & descends I made my way home, clocking 7km & in a better mood than when I'd left the house.

Run #2

With a day of study ahead of me and an important running related meeting also planned I needed no further motivation to get out the door for a long run. The plan was to complete 100 minutes, so at least ten miles was required.
So I packed a couple of gels and headed out the door, making my way out of Stansted through to Quendon. Despite making my local council aware just how bad the plant growth is alongside a busy main road over a month ago the footpaths remained impassable in places. Thankfully it was early in the morning so I was able to run on the road at times without too much risk. Once through Quendon I was able to take a right and head back into Elsenham.
My pace felt decent throughout, consistently just under 6:00/km. For once luck was on my side as the level crossing at Elsenham station opened just moments after I got to it, negating the need to climb the stairs.
It was coming through Elsenham that I started to get some pain, not enough to stop me but a reminder that not every run will be smooth. Pain aside, the run was largely positive, I took on a gel at around 50 minutes and felt strong until the end, even managing to drag myself up Chapel Hill without too much pace being lost.

Run #3

Any attempt at a parkrun on Saturday would be dictated by work commitments. I was working overnight on the Friday and had decided that if I could get to sleep by 4am then it would be worth trying to get to an event. I'd sounded out Sean on a visit to Hampstead Heath parkrun but as he wasn't game, that idea was parked & I headed east to Beckton instead.

I'd considered Beckton a few times after realising just how close to central London it is, plus being near Stratford makes it an east commute home for me. The park is barely a minute or two walk from Royal Albert DLR and parallel to London City Airport.

A nice view of City Airport from Royal Albert DLR

I was one of the first to arrive and as nine o'clock approached more people started to appear and soon we had a nice group ready for the brief. 

First timers briefing was entertaining, the only time I've seen two 50 club members be the sole participants! The course was relatively simple, two laps of the park essentially. 

As we made our way to the start I decided to not be so conservative and pushed myself further forward in order to get a decent get away. With little ceremony we were on our way and I had no idea what would happen on minimal sleep. 

The first half of the lap was on grass as we skirted around the edge of a couple of fields. Once on tarmac we had a long out and back stretch that included a high five from the marshal as I navigated my way round a lamppost with a turning circle no one would be proud of. With most of the lap scouted now I pushed on the solid paths and made up time on those around me, it was looking like a solid, if unspectacular sub 25:00.

The Beckton parkrun route

The guy in front of me was starting to flag towards the end of the first lap so we ran alongside each other for a moment and I encouraged him to keep going. As we started out on the grass again I tried to stay steady and be stronger for the final stretch on more agreeable surfaces. The guy I'd been alongside had rediscovered his mojo and was pulling away from me with ease, my focus was on what appeared to be a decent time. I did however notice that there now appeared to be no one running in my vicinity. By the finish around a minute spanned the two places either side of me. 

I finished reasonably strongly, urged on by the Event Director and assembled runners at the finish funnel. I stopped the Garmin as was pleasantly surprised. My official time turned out to be 23:51, something I was quite blasé about at the time.

Finishing strong, not so sure!

I started charting to the other 50 club guy who was significantly quicker. In fact Peter from Cambridge was so fast he came home in first, a minute nearly in front of the rest of the field. Not only did we share the tourism but he'd also worked an overnighter in town, perhaps a lack of sleep is the answer!!! We shared stories of events local to the M11 corridor and notes on where is quick and the Wimpole Hill of Doom. 

The Eat

I made my way north on the train and met Paula at Audley End and we headed into Saffron Walden. They'd at least be some good cake taken home. For a much needed breakfast we stumbled upon Mocha, a tardis of a greasy spoon hidden away from the main drag in Walden. I opted for sausage, egg & chips with mushrooms (banishing the beans). Sure chips are normally off the menu but these were awesome, classic home style deep fried and worth falling off the wagon for!

After picking up a huge slab of millionaires shortbread from Cafe Cou Cou we were on our way home to chill out before the first of two bbqs in two days. Fair to say it was a good weekend for food. I did at least steer clear of burger buns though. 

The Conclusion 

This really was a decent week. Glad to get a ten miler banked. The parkrun result was also exceedingly good. I walked away blasé with the result, pleased but not overly surprised with the time, almost taking the current run of good form for granted. 

I think it's a result that took a while to sink in. A 23:51 is in fact my second best time over 5k. To do this on essentially three and a bit hours sleep is insane!

Hopefully a couple more distance runs will combine with my current decent pace and I'll arrive in Richmond with a great chance of taking time off of my PB.