A couple of runs rolled into one here. My blogging hasn't been as efficient as I planned this week, lots of upcoming building work in the Holt household has diverted my attention elsewhere! Better late than never though....
What a difference a week makes. This time last week I was pretty down, wondering whether more time off was required to heal my Achilles and dodgy calves. I decided that the sensible route would be to take things one run at a time. After plenty of ice on Sunday & Monday I had a decent easy run on Tuesday. More ice & stretching got me through a tempo session Thursday lunchtime & it meant I could approach the weekend with a bit more confidence.
My weekend plan was for a parkrun on Saturday & a long run on Sunday. Speed & stamina in two individual doses.
What a difference a week makes. This time last week I was pretty down, wondering whether more time off was required to heal my Achilles and dodgy calves. I decided that the sensible route would be to take things one run at a time. After plenty of ice on Sunday & Monday I had a decent easy run on Tuesday. More ice & stretching got me through a tempo session Thursday lunchtime & it meant I could approach the weekend with a bit more confidence.
My weekend plan was for a parkrun on Saturday & a long run on Sunday. Speed & stamina in two individual doses.
The Run #1
With all of my parkrun plans, the key decision is where? Where shall the pursuit of a 50 shirt take me this week? The advantage if having no local event is that there is no sense of loyalty, no duty to attend somewhere regularly. You can take the parkrun map, close your eyes and just pick an event at random.
We'd decided the week before to head to Colchester, where the event had been running for nearly a year.
The early start appeared to have frazzled my mind, GPS watch was left at home & I managed to leave my water bottle in the car. So I warmed up whilst Paula headed back to the car park to fetch my bottle. Luckily my phone has the Nike app on it so I could at least log the run. It meant running naked though, no faffing with the phone & no GPS meant I had no idea what my pace was like. It was pacer week so I decided to try and keep up with the 25 minute pace for as long as possible.
We'd decided the week before to head to Colchester, where the event had been running for nearly a year.
The early start appeared to have frazzled my mind, GPS watch was left at home & I managed to leave my water bottle in the car. So I warmed up whilst Paula headed back to the car park to fetch my bottle. Luckily my phone has the Nike app on it so I could at least log the run. It meant running naked though, no faffing with the phone & no GPS meant I had no idea what my pace was like. It was pacer week so I decided to try and keep up with the 25 minute pace for as long as possible.
After about half a km I caught up with Ian, the 25 minute man & got chatting. Having paced once myself I was impressed with how easy he was making it look, when your usual time is a mid 21:00 it makes sense that a mere 5:00/km would seem like a stroll. He got me round to halfway & then we started to climb for a lap of the castle. With near perfect timing, Paula was there to hand me my water bottle, like a soigneur! The hill took it out of me & the 25 vest started to get further & further away.
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| Sprint finish..... |
Luckily what goes up must invaribly go down so I was able to relax down hill, conserving energy for the second lap of the castle. I felt really slow by the second climb, concerned that the 26 minute pacer would overtake me at any moment. That didn't happen though & soon there was a last small descent & a race to the line. I could feel myself tiring & was disappointed to be pipped on the line. The parkrun organisers can tell everyone they like that it's a run & not a race, but in those last 200m, everyone is racing!
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| Pipped on the line! |
I clumsily fumbled my phone & managed to stop the clock, 25:34. Similar to my result in Chelmsford the week before & with the climbs involved, a far tougher proposition. To my surprise, the official result was 25:16. It might be nowhere near my best, but the double lap of the castle isn't that different to Finsbury Park, the downhill sections are more generous though.
The Eat #1
With a very decent parkrun time banked it was off to Colchester's second attraction, Wimpy for a thickshake. I can't explain what my fascination with Wimpy is. I suspect it is nostalgia, fast food on plates, a throwback to a once more successful business. The shakes though, they are awesome. Made much thicker than a milkshake & a lot thicker than a McD's. The chap behind the counter suggested it was a bit cold for a shake, once I explained it was hard earned, he understood!
Once the town centre had been successfully negotiated it was time to head home, with a visit to an old favourite of mine on the way. The Food Company in Marks Tey was my place of work through University over a decade ago. I left there 11 years ago & my time there is probably the reason why I became such a foodie (and probably why I have to run!). The food hall always appeared to be based loosely on Selfridges & has evolved significantly since my last visit in 2010. There were still a couple of recognisable faces from when I worked there & it was a perfect opportunity to pick up some purely indulgent food. Gluten free double chocolate & raspberry brownies, blue murder cheese, Irish Dairy Milk, Turkish Delight, Biltong, if my shopping list were like that every week I'd die broke but happy!!!
The Conclusion #1
I think I had some decent pace at the parkrun. To return a low 25 when the course was tough is something to be satisfied with. The rest & recuperation between runs appears to be working & now my pace is returning. This Saturday brings another parkrun, with a visit to Eastbourne on the south coast. This will be my 21st different parkrun event, meaning that this weekend I appeared on a parkrun leaderboard for the first time.
I might not have a 50 shirt yet, but I have something that none of my parkrun friends have achieved yet. There is a parkrun table for most events attended. To qualify you need to either attend 5 inaugural runs (I have one, Gunpowder in 2011) or 20 different events. If you scroll down far enough, you can find me!
The Run #2
In recent weeks the Sunday run has been more of an If event than a When. Since starting my Helsinki training the longest run I'd managed was 10km, hardly a sufficient base from which to take on a half marathon. With this in mind I kept stretching & icing through Saturday in a bid to be fit for Sunday morning. I was also aware that the weather was due to be rubbish once more so kept an eye on the forecast.
I had agreed to go swimming with Paula, but before heading to bed she advised that a lie in would be much more preferable, so I had my running window. Seven am is a bonus to me so once awake I donned my running kit & left the wife in bed to her own lie in. There were no obvious warning signs of solid Achilles or tight quads so I loaded up my pocket with energy gels & made sure I had my GPS watch this time!
With heavy rainfall experienced on Saturday I knew that some routes would be out of bounds, so I headed out towards Bishops Stortford. Despite advising the council last year on Twitter about the state of pavements, they remain perilously narrow alongside a busy road (due to vegetation overgrowth) & thanks to the weather some parts were now extra muddy.
During the early parts of the run my shins were feeling it a bit & descends were also noticeable on both Achilles. The longer I ran for, the better they felt, as if they just needed some miles to settle down. Once into Stortford I decided on a new addition to my route, the rugby club hill. As you head out from the centre to the west, the road climbs substantially. In all of my years of running around Stortford I had never taken on this hill, mainly due to excuses & cowardice! On Sunday though I felt it was worth an attempt, it might light up my quads, but it'll be harsher than anything Helsinki can offer (I hope). Getting up the hill wasn't too bad, it felt like a long slog & the stats afterwards agreed (30m climb over 1km). It was swiftly followed by a downhill & then a bit of me getting lost in a part of Stortford I'm unfamiliar with. I was soon back on course & will be consulting the map & Google StreetView to work out where I'd gone wrong & how to correct it in the future.
Once I crossed the A120 I decided to detour via Birchanger & the Forest Hall estate rather than take on the narrow roadside pavement. A shorter & sharper hill took a lot out of me & after finding an awesome view overlooking Stansted within the estate I turned for home. Fifteen kilometres in the legs & I felt very decent afterwards. My cardio seemed fine throughout, the pace fade towards the end can be attributed equally to the hills & the lack of distance in my training so far. I took on two gels, more to get back into the habit than any urgent need for energy.
The Eat #2
Once I'd showered from the run I got the slow cooker out & prepared for a Sunday feast. Into the pot went a joint of lamb, vegetable stock, red wine, onions, garlic & rosemary. I seasoned with smoked salt, pepper, Worcestershire Sauce & mushroom ketchup.
I want to tell you that with this combination produced something epic. Sadly it was a bit disappointing. Perhaps the lamb wasn't the idea joint for slow cooking, it might have spent too long hibernating in our freezer. Despite all of the stock it felt a bit dry, I like I'll stick to pork when cooking slow in the future. I'm hoping I can salvage a decent meal out of it tonight, thinking Moroccan, or at least something a bit different.
The Conclusion #2
I'm really happy with the long run. It was the most distance covered since the Copenhagen half in September & a good indicator that if I rest & recuperate properly I shouldn't need any extended & unplanned periods of rest. I'm breaking down my training plan into smaller doses & have three long runs left before the Denton Ford 10 miler at the end of Feb. Then it's a month to the Brentwood Half & a further 6 weeks to Helsinki. I think the training plan became too big & lacked focused by having the end target so far away.
After being so pessimistic last week I've actually had a really good week with all four intended runs completed. So it's onto a new week & we're back on schedule.
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| Epic brownie from The Food Co. Needed a 2nd sitting! |
The Conclusion #1
I think I had some decent pace at the parkrun. To return a low 25 when the course was tough is something to be satisfied with. The rest & recuperation between runs appears to be working & now my pace is returning. This Saturday brings another parkrun, with a visit to Eastbourne on the south coast. This will be my 21st different parkrun event, meaning that this weekend I appeared on a parkrun leaderboard for the first time.
 |
| Joining parkrun royalty |
The Run #2
In recent weeks the Sunday run has been more of an If event than a When. Since starting my Helsinki training the longest run I'd managed was 10km, hardly a sufficient base from which to take on a half marathon. With this in mind I kept stretching & icing through Saturday in a bid to be fit for Sunday morning. I was also aware that the weather was due to be rubbish once more so kept an eye on the forecast.
I had agreed to go swimming with Paula, but before heading to bed she advised that a lie in would be much more preferable, so I had my running window. Seven am is a bonus to me so once awake I donned my running kit & left the wife in bed to her own lie in. There were no obvious warning signs of solid Achilles or tight quads so I loaded up my pocket with energy gels & made sure I had my GPS watch this time!
With heavy rainfall experienced on Saturday I knew that some routes would be out of bounds, so I headed out towards Bishops Stortford. Despite advising the council last year on Twitter about the state of pavements, they remain perilously narrow alongside a busy road (due to vegetation overgrowth) & thanks to the weather some parts were now extra muddy.
 |
| A little bit muddy for my shiny newish trainers! |
During the early parts of the run my shins were feeling it a bit & descends were also noticeable on both Achilles. The longer I ran for, the better they felt, as if they just needed some miles to settle down. Once into Stortford I decided on a new addition to my route, the rugby club hill. As you head out from the centre to the west, the road climbs substantially. In all of my years of running around Stortford I had never taken on this hill, mainly due to excuses & cowardice! On Sunday though I felt it was worth an attempt, it might light up my quads, but it'll be harsher than anything Helsinki can offer (I hope). Getting up the hill wasn't too bad, it felt like a long slog & the stats afterwards agreed (30m climb over 1km). It was swiftly followed by a downhill & then a bit of me getting lost in a part of Stortford I'm unfamiliar with. I was soon back on course & will be consulting the map & Google StreetView to work out where I'd gone wrong & how to correct it in the future.
 |
| Spot the hills.... |
Once I crossed the A120 I decided to detour via Birchanger & the Forest Hall estate rather than take on the narrow roadside pavement. A shorter & sharper hill took a lot out of me & after finding an awesome view overlooking Stansted within the estate I turned for home. Fifteen kilometres in the legs & I felt very decent afterwards. My cardio seemed fine throughout, the pace fade towards the end can be attributed equally to the hills & the lack of distance in my training so far. I took on two gels, more to get back into the habit than any urgent need for energy.
The Eat #2
Once I'd showered from the run I got the slow cooker out & prepared for a Sunday feast. Into the pot went a joint of lamb, vegetable stock, red wine, onions, garlic & rosemary. I seasoned with smoked salt, pepper, Worcestershire Sauce & mushroom ketchup.
 |
| Slow roasted lamb. It offered so much..... |
The Conclusion #2
I'm really happy with the long run. It was the most distance covered since the Copenhagen half in September & a good indicator that if I rest & recuperate properly I shouldn't need any extended & unplanned periods of rest. I'm breaking down my training plan into smaller doses & have three long runs left before the Denton Ford 10 miler at the end of Feb. Then it's a month to the Brentwood Half & a further 6 weeks to Helsinki. I think the training plan became too big & lacked focused by having the end target so far away.
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| Recovery after 15 easy kilometres |
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