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Travs

Well-Known Member
Track session tonight...

400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400

Was rather optimistically hoping to run it all at around 5:45-5:50/mile pace... however it was all i could do to run it at 6min/mile pace. To be fair, it was pissing down and windy, and i was still heavy legged from last sunday, when i ran a 22 mile challenge on the Long Mynd hills/mountains (i am told my run was the 4th fastest time ever over the course!).

One consolation is i seem to be able to hit 6min/mile pace for reps even when fatigued, which does bode well for when races start to come back, in particular the winter cross-country season, which really is a battle of attrition.
 
larry_david

larry_david

Well-Known Member
13k round dracote today. Slightly disappointed had to stop on second lap but a few contributing factors meant I was fucked!
 
We'll_live_and_die

We'll_live_and_die

Super Moderator
I did a 2mile time trial last night. Fell off the top of Corley moor all the way down to Allesley. Managed to sneak under 13 with 12:58. I think a sub 20 5km attempt will be on soon. If I can break that barrier albeit downhill I’ll be able to bring it back to flat and maintain the pace.
 
Wyken Sky Blue

Wyken Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
10k run yesterday afternoon and 10k this morning! Legs need a rest for a few days now...

If I run the route twice I'll be just short of a half marathon so that's my target in the next couple of months

Sent from my I3113 using Tapatalk
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
4 x 1250mtr reps (1st lap of Bedworth Parkrun course), with decreasing rest periods between each one. Managed to keep them consistent at about 18:20/5km pace.

Learnt the value of my GPS watch today... was ready to jack it in after 3 reps as i was utterly bollocksed. However my watch showed me that my 3rd rep had still been consistent even though it hurt like buggery. And that pushed me on to give it everything for a 4th.
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
I also had a weigh in yesterday and was 79.1kg... Which is lowest I've been since my last fight in 2015 (78kg).

Was 81kg before lockdown. Will be interesting to see whether it's the increased mileage that has lowered it, or loss of strength/muscle from no gym. Guess I'll find out when the gym's been back open a few weeks and check the scales again...
 
C

CrawleySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
Travs said:
4 x 1250mtr reps (1st lap of Bedworth Parkrun course), with decreasing rest periods between each one. Managed to keep them consistent at about 18:20/5km pace.

Learnt the value of my GPS watch today... was ready to jack it in after 3 reps as i was utterly bollocksed. However my watch showed me that my 3rd rep had still been consistent even though it hurt like buggery. And that pushed me on to give it everything for a 4th.
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Nice timing. What is Bedworth parkrun like?

it is nice feeling when you think you are "utterly bollocksed" (to quote you. A lovely way of putting it) but in actual fact you managed to keep pace! Good effort.

An easier week for me this week. I've stepped up the mileage in the last few weeks (86, 73 and 92km in the last 3 weeks) culminating in a fairly decent 1hour 28 min half marathon on Sunday. Feeling good at the moment, no pain in my right calf which is nice.
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
CrawleySkyBlue said:
Nice timing. What is Bedworth parkrun like?

it is nice feeling when you think you are "utterly bollocksed" (to quote you. A lovely way of putting it) but in actual fact you managed to keep pace! Good effort.

An easier week for me this week. I've stepped up the mileage in the last few weeks (86, 73 and 92km in the last 3 weeks) culminating in a fairly decent 1hour 28 min half marathon on Sunday. Feeling good at the moment, no pain in my right calf which is nice.
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Bedworth Parkrun... A few basic facts... compared to Cov there's probably only 200-250 runners rather than 500-700... however it's three laps instead of two, so you still encounter "traffic".

At the front end, the standard is not quite as high. Sometimes you get the odd 16 minuter turn up, but your time (18:00-18:30?) would generally see you in the top 3-5 finishers most weeks.

I think most people in the area will describe it as "slow" compared to Cov, as on the 2nd and 3rd laps there is a trailly section through a bit of woodland, and there's two very tight turns, and one really quite sharp hill (only 20 yards long). But if you're not a fan of hills it'll totally knock the stuffing out of you. However if it wasn't for that, the rest of the course feels no worse than Cov, in fact probably slightly faster.

My pb's are 18:41 at Cov and 18:34 at Bedworth, both i'd say in similar states of fitness, so there's not much in it at all really.

If you're in the area i'd really recommend taking a look at Warwick Race course Parkrun. It's basically a big loop around and then back round the racecourse. Obviously one big hairpin at halfway, and near that point there's a hill of perhaps 50-70 metres which you take both ways, but it's really nothing to worry about. THe rest of the course is absolutely pancake flat. I ran a 19:26 there in January when the start and finish had to be lengthened to avoid sheet ice, and even then parts of the course were treacherous, and i wasn't on good form either.

You don't get the traffic either, as you stay to the right of the path both ways round, and you're never lapping people. Good standard too... similar to Cov at the front end.

I reckon Warwick Racecourse is a "pb" course and seems faster than Cov and Bedworth.

Incidentally i've booked a track session for next thursday, with the intention of running either a "fast" 5km or Track Mile, depending on how i feel next week. Will only go for the 5km if i think i can get fairly close to 18mins, which would seem a stretch after today's antics... but i do feel i could possibly knock a few secs off my Track Mile pb (5:23)

ps 1:28 on the half marathon, well done...!
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
Rich said:
I did a 2mile time trial last night. Fell off the top of Corley moor all the way down to Allesley. Managed to sneak under 13 with 12:58. I think a sub 20 5km attempt will be on soon. If I can break that barrier albeit downhill I’ll be able to bring it back to flat and maintain the pace.
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If you're after an arrow-straight 2 mile run that is a bit flatter (it's definitely slightly downhill but it's barely noticeable, but i guess still helps you along), the "Greenway" path from the road at Burton Green, heading in the direction of Kenilworth... (i think it's an old disused railway line, now a cyclists/walkers path), is a good one.

Only issue being dead straight, if you do the 2 miles, then you have to walk/jog back afterwards, assuming you park at Burton end.

We do it from the Uni which gives a good couple of miles warmup along Westwood Heath Road then down to Burton Green past the "Peeping Tom". Then the 'time trial' from Burton Green to the Crackley Woods footpath junction, which is 2.1 miles, then a couple of miles back through the fields to the Uni. A regular club run of ours which is about 6.5 miles total.

A very good place to set a quick time. Think my best is 12:34 for the 2.1 miles. Which i reckon is almost bang on 12mins through the 2 mile point.
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
5km effort on the track this morning.

18:40.... a little disappointed, had hoped to be a lot nearer to 18mins, but i guess it shows your training numbers don't lie (18:40 is basically 3:44/km or 6min/mile, and my recent pace on km/1250/mile reps has generally been around 3:40-3:45/km, or 5:50-6:00/mile). So i effectively strung together my rep pace and held it constantly.

I'd hoped the "occasion" would have spurred me on to a slight improvement, but perhaps that was cancelled out by the heat and lack of people to race against.

Still... fastest i've managed since July last year, and way faster than my previous efforts over the Bedworth Parkrun course during lockdown.

I think i need to revisit my km/mile reps and try to run them harder. I seem to have the ability to hold my "rep" pace, but can't seem to push that pace too far. Although racing again in 9 days so it'll be a while before i feel ready for another 5km effort.
 
Sky_Blue_Daz

Sky_Blue_Daz

Well-Known Member
Had a lovely run today , if anyone’s interested they’ve almost finished tarmaccing the path round coundon parking it will be nice to have a path round the park .
 
C

CrawleySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
Travs said:
Bedworth Parkrun... A few basic facts... compared to Cov there's probably only 200-250 runners rather than 500-700... however it's three laps instead of two, so you still encounter "traffic".

At the front end, the standard is not quite as high. Sometimes you get the odd 16 minuter turn up, but your time (18:00-18:30?) would generally see you in the top 3-5 finishers most weeks.

I think most people in the area will describe it as "slow" compared to Cov, as on the 2nd and 3rd laps there is a trailly section through a bit of woodland, and there's two very tight turns, and one really quite sharp hill (only 20 yards long). But if you're not a fan of hills it'll totally knock the stuffing out of you. However if it wasn't for that, the rest of the course feels no worse than Cov, in fact probably slightly faster.

My pb's are 18:41 at Cov and 18:34 at Bedworth, both i'd say in similar states of fitness, so there's not much in it at all really.

If you're in the area i'd really recommend taking a look at Warwick Race course Parkrun. It's basically a big loop around and then back round the racecourse. Obviously one big hairpin at halfway, and near that point there's a hill of perhaps 50-70 metres which you take both ways, but it's really nothing to worry about. THe rest of the course is absolutely pancake flat. I ran a 19:26 there in January when the start and finish had to be lengthened to avoid sheet ice, and even then parts of the course were treacherous, and i wasn't on good form either.

You don't get the traffic either, as you stay to the right of the path both ways round, and you're never lapping people. Good standard too... similar to Cov at the front end.

I reckon Warwick Racecourse is a "pb" course and seems faster than Cov and Bedworth.

Incidentally i've booked a track session for next thursday, with the intention of running either a "fast" 5km or Track Mile, depending on how i feel next week. Will only go for the 5km if i think i can get fairly close to 18mins, which would seem a stretch after today's antics... but i do feel i could possibly knock a few secs off my Track Mile pb (5:23)

ps 1:28 on the half marathon, well done...!
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Interesting, will have to give them both a go in a post-pandemic world. Thanks for the info - Warwick sounds like a good course for a fast time.

Sub 18:00 5km for me this week. 17:57 on my normal road route, which has 2 small ish hills. 6 seconds quicker than my 5km attempt on the flat at Bognor a few months back (once lockdown was lifted!). The old saying of ‘practice makes perfect’ certainly is true, albeit I’m sadly still far from perfect. It seems a mix of increased mileage and 800m rep sessions have helped me reach the sub 18:00 - next aim is doing my local parkrun (Tilgate) in under 18:00 and trying to break a sub 38:00 10km.

Would definitely recommend the rep sessions to anyone who has a running base but wants to push on!
 
Great_Expectations

Great_Expectations

Well-Known Member
Lost a little bit of mileage the last two weeks, down from an average of ~45miles to ~32 the last two. The first was due to a weekend away so I couldn’t do my weekend half, and while I managed one 5k, I didn’t fancy running the other few days after a few drinks the previous evenings, and it was supposed to be a holiday! The second was also due to a lack of time during the week.

I was surprised how much just a few days off/change in distance impacted me. Did a longer run and a quicker short one over the weekend and both felt harder than the same distances had previously.

Did 9 miles today and felt a bit better. I’m away this weekend again, so going to try and front load my runs (9 miles a day today - Thursday) and see if I can get one in over the weekend to at least make 40.
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
Track session this morning, and first part of my concerted effort to get my 5km time down to 18mins.

A simple theory... i need to be able to run my longer reps (1km/1200mtrs/1 mile) at the required pace (3:36/km or approx 5:45/mile)

Once i can do a sufficient amount of reps on the track at the required pace with a reasonable rest period (this morning i was doing 200mtrs recovery between reps), i'll then look to do them with a decreasing rest period, to ramp up the fatigue a little. Once i can do the required distance there, experience tells me i shouldn't be too far off with my 5km attempt.

So to the track and 1km reps this morning... aiming for 3:36 per km.... managed 3:37, 3:35, 3:36, 3:35.... only four... pretty sure i could have managed at least one, and possibly even two more... however hamstring still a little tight, and got a race on saturday, so erred on the side of caution and stopped after the fourth rep.

An encouraging start but a lot of hard work to go... and with the resumption of fellracing starting to kick in, that will always be priority, so could be a while before my next 5km attempt!
 
larry_david

larry_david

Well-Known Member
5k today after a week off due to visiting home. Christ could I tell! Had to stop after 3k with stitch. Haven't stopped midway since April
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
Great to get back racing yesterday on the Brecon Beacons, even though it was staggered starts so had more of a time-trial feel to it.

Not the same level of competition last year (when it was a South Wales Fell Champs counter, and i finished 4th)

Set off really hard as i knew there were one or two people starting behind me, who i didn't want trying to follow me through the tricky terrain. As it happened, i had a 7min lead by the first top, and finished 16mins clear of the field by the end.... of course i was not to know this due to the staggered starts... i could have eased off and still finished comfortably ahead.

Absolutely sweltering. Due to my hard start i was feeling quite sick after about an hour, and realised i had to temper my effort or i could be in danger of a touch of sunstroke/heatstroke.
 
Sky_Blue_Daz

Sky_Blue_Daz

Well-Known Member
Rich said:
I managed my longest ever run yesterday, got 16.1 miles in. My previous best is basically a half marathon with a jog back to the car.
It was a trail run too so really happy with the tough effort. Hopefully I’ll be able to add a couple more on in the next few weeks.
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Bloody hell mate that’s a fantastic effort
 
T

Travs

Well-Known Member
Don't get too worked up on hitting a certain pace on your long runs, especially if relatively new to them.

Build up the endurance base first, then can start to think about running them harder.

(much the same principle as shorter distance training (5km/10km/half/etc).... need to have the solid base of miles before you start banging out the hard sessions...
 
We'll_live_and_die

We'll_live_and_die

Super Moderator
Travs said:
Don't get too worked up on hitting a certain pace on your long runs, especially if relatively new to them.

Build up the endurance base first, then can start to think about running them harder.

(much the same principle as shorter distance training (5km/10km/half/etc).... need to have the solid base of miles before you start banging out the hard sessions...
Click to expand...
I didn’t mention pace for that very reason. It was my furthest but also longest as we just enjoyed the run.
 
Sky_Blue_Daz

Sky_Blue_Daz

Well-Known Member
Did a 4 mile run about 8:45 this morning, sweating like a pregnant nun when I’d finished
 
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