Chorley 4 PB

After a lot of persuasion from friends, I decided to do the local 4miler, done it a few times before, though didn't feel especially good beforehand. Niggling achilles and a little tired.

It didn't help that we arrived and registered with 5 minutes to spare before the start of the race. No time for a warm up! Anyway, I have done this race 3 times before, and my last time I did it, 2 months ago, I was flying and did it in 24:56. I was going for 26 this time.

Mile 1: Felt ok, though not as good as the last time, kind of got dragged along at a pace that felt comfortable though, I thought may make my following miles a little more testing. Mile 1 was completed in 6:13.

Mile 2: Still felt relatively fresh and settled in behind a guy who seemed quite strong. I finally got level with him and said to him, "come on ,lets help eachother up this hill." I remember that at this moment it seemed to come a little personal battle, the pace increased, and we soon mounted the hill. I then took on the pace and overtook him, (vest, 18-), and that was the last I saw of him: see pic below, (me in 331). Mile 2: 6:08.



Mile 3: Now I began to feel the pain, and I rmeember hearing people from the side of the road, shouting to other runners, to "dig in". I took this advice, and worked hard to sustain this pace, as I thought that if I could I would be on for a PB. Mile 3 was hard but good for me psychologically, as I remember overtaking a lot of people, some of whom I have never quite beat. Mile 3 was completed in 6:08.

Mile 4: I knew now that it had all boiled down to this last mile, and I really wanted to be able to sustain my current pace, and end up with a great time. I really dug in and tried to up the pace, I dont know how but I pulle dit off, and completed the last mile in 5:56. I cant believe I was able to go sub 6.
Below is a pic of me finishing, and I must mention I felt like I was about to die!

I worked extremely hard for this finish, and finished in 24:24. 6:06 pace, I was thrilled to bits, comments please are very welcome.

Latest MAF Results

Just thought I would share my recent findings with you guys. At the beginning of the year, I did MAF training for 6 weeks, and my best MAF result was an average pace of 7:47 per mile, over 4 miles.

After I finished this I did a 5k race(first bit more or less of speed work for me in 7 weeks) and I PR'd from 21:13 to 18:57.

I have just started my base building again, and I am at the end of week 2. I decided to do another MAF test, in fact I did one yesterday, on a flat canal, and these were my findings:

Mile 1 7:36
Mile 2 7:38
Mile 3 7:40
Mile 4 7:22
This averaged out at 7:34 pace. Stayed under MAF by 2 beats

Today I did another MAF for the hell of it, and here were my findings:

Mile 1 7:35
Mile 2 7:06 downhill
Mile 3 8:00 uphill
Mile 4 7:33

Average pace again 7:34. Undr MAF by 2 beats

Just thought I would share this with you guys, as I am well impressed and only in week 2, and already 13 seconds per mile in my MAF test ahead of my previous phase. Should be flying hopefully when I go back to racing in time.

Maffetone Phase 2

Over the last few months I have done 3 races and have PB'd in them all, Unfortunately towards the end I was getting niggling pains in achilles and hip. Before hand I would have carried on through it and got injured. This time I have taken a week off and have just got back from a 15 mile run doing Maffetone Phase 2. I was very succesful with this plan last time, and so I am going to stick to it again religiously to get the base building and stamina back up to where it ought to be which I know will benefit me greatly after the hols when I think about racing agan, in August.

Astley Park 5k

Just got back from my 5k x country race, and though I didint break 20 (20:20) I am well happy cos it was very tough. Undulating country and trails and bridhes to negotiate etc. A nasty sting in the tail, steady ascent at the end for 400m.
Good result in all. Not got the official results, though placed about 32 out of approx 180

chorley 4 pb

Just completed another race, 4 mile road race, which I did last year in 27:22. I expected to knock a little off it this time.
I set off at a reserved pace, holding back purposely in order to save myself for the miles to come. The first mile was very easy, almost effortless, as I didnt push the pace whatsoever, and completed it in 6:23.
Others around me were breathing heavy already and this gave me the confidence I needed, and reassurance that I had gone out at a good proper pace. Mile 2 was a little quicker at 6:13, and still I felt extremely fit and 'flying'
Going into mile 3, I realised I was stronger than those around me and so I started picking people off, what a great feeling this was to over take people. There were quite a few people that I really wanted to beat from local running clubs, and I could see them ahead. Mile 3: 6:05. In the last mile I decided to push the pace, and I overtook loads more people: including all the people I so wanted to beat. With about 100 metres to go I wasfeeling the pain, but pushed hard to the finish and clocked a final mile of 6:07.
My overall official chip time was 24:56 but my garmin clocked 24:58 for 4.04 miles. That is 6:11 miling. Last year I averaged in the same race (actually 10 months ago) 6:50 mile pace.
This is great news for me and gives me so much confidence for up and coming races. I placed 41st out of 159. Here are the results for those of you that are interested.
http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2008/chorley1.htm

I think you can see that this attracts some speedy runners, and I am so happy with my result. Hopefully soon (my next goal) I will go sub 6 average. Comments welcome please.

My 10k PB: Scarecorw in Lancaster

Well, I think a lot of you know just how nervous I was going into this race as I have had my ups and downs lately with injuries. I was not sure what to expect in terms of time. I just planned on going out, keeping my head down and not pushing too much.
The 10k was on the road, and I can tell you, it was the hilliest course I have ever run. At 3k, we hit a hill that was extremely steep and just kept going on. In fact it went on for about 1.3 kms. It was hard but I dug in and shortened my stride and got to the top.
After that the whole race was undulating, yet the relieving downhills by no way compensated for the very steep ascents. It was damn tough. Here are my splits: but firstly let me tell you that I was intending, judging on form and expectation to average 7m/mile pace.

Mile 1: 6:29. I actually intended to do this mile in 6:45, so this was not too bad. In fact, the first half was covered in a rather over eager 2:50, and so I thought, I had better slow down.

Mile 2: 7:15. This was the mile whic had the massive hill, so in hindsight this was a good mile, and it brought my average pace back towards 7m/mile pace which I anticipated

Mile 3: 6:42. This was me recovering from the hard hill with some welcomed descents, along with some not so welcome ascents. Really bumpy, up and down. I passed 5k in about 21.

Mile 4: 6:45. Consistant with the pace, and was way ahead of my garmin race partner, but I started to feel the pain here, thinking I could not keep this pace up. Still more hills.

Mile 5: 6:25. A quick mile, pulled along by a guy in front of me who I caught, and kept with.

Mile 6: 6:31. Again a quick mile with the euphoria of getting close to home. Maximum lactate and increased breathing to the max.

Last 0.2 done in sub 6 pace, to a sprint finish taking on the guy I caught and beating him by 11 seconds.

I finished in 41:29 over a very hard course, placing 18 out of 110 and got a PR by 1 minute. This gives me so much confidence thinking that the elusive sub 40 is definitely attainable in 2008 on a fast course.

Comments always welcome.

Out with my Bro!

Since being out for what seemed forever with injury I have been steadily upping my miles. I have also been going out with a few friends who want to get into running. The thing is, whilst running with them I have rediscovered how enjoyable running can be as when I go with them it is at a very slow and comfortable pace. This all changed yesterday when I went out with my brother who is very fit.
We set out at a fast pace (for me) and I ended up doing a 5k TT. I did it in 20:02. I was happy seeing as though I have been injured and I didnt expect to get this close to 20 mins.
We ended up doing 7 miles in total at 7 in mile pace.
The thing is it really helped running with him as he was always ahead of me and he pushed me to go faster and faster. Do you guys run with others who are faster? My last mile of the initial 5k was 5:55, and I recall my bro just running past me and way beyond me at a comfortable pace. Unbelievable, but it made me push harder.
He said to me literally,

"You need to push yourself more often. Stop being a pussy" Get some balls and run hard until you are dying on your hard days!"

Do you guys agree with this? I want to ultimately break 40 mins for 10k, and I dont thik I am going to do it on just log slow miles. Should I do a session so intense with my bro once a week?What are your thoughts and personal experiences of running with faster others?