Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Racing Schedule

Okay so I've gotten a few comments asking about what races I'm doing etc. and if I'm running London so might as well set out a very basic plan for the next few weeks and the rest of the summer...

Next couple of weeks
All about Reading Half and 12 Stage from now on. Basically whacking in a load of 5k and 10k pace stuff now together with a final long run. Sunday am doing the Thames 20 and will be running "hard" for part of that and hopefully clock a decent time for that portion- rest will be relatively easy. Wednesday I'm doing the Teddy Hall Relays - 3.6 miles! Saturday means I'm back home for a Wedding and so going to give the Cambridge Parkrun a quick once-over followed up by a second loop 5-10 minutes later at target HM pace.

Then it's easing up for Reading and sharpening for SoE 12 stage!

Medium Term

After that I'm basically just looking at having some fun for a while. Mileage will go back up a bit. Back onto focusing on the tempo runs. I'll probably be doing more races than in previous years - often as tempo efforts instead of flat-out runs. A few long races (HM+) at probably close to marathon pace and a few track races as well to really blow the cobwebs away. It's going to be a fairly eclectic mix. The main aim though is going to be to bash out a half-decent 10k. 5k, 10M or HM PBs also acceptable.

Long Term

A marathon in the autumn is the goal. At the moment I'm thinking either Berlin, Amsterdam or Abingdon and really not sure which! A PB and sub 2:30 clockings are obviously what I'm hoping for (that really shouldn't be any surprise).

Why no London?

Well - last year I got to this stage and was getting pretty fit and as much as I wanted to make my debut, after running huge PBs over 10k, HM and effectively 5k at 12 stage (15:18 short leg > 15:51 track 5k no matter what conversion you use - plus I had to set at least one at some point during my 10k!). This year I'm not having that regret and can enjoy being fit and hopefully really push on. An autumn marathon fits my yearly schedule an awful lot better in terms of being able to enjoy lots of racing in the Spring/Summer and training for the marathon whilst there's still some sun instead of just gloom! Also being in the Autumn I really don't care that much about racing in the first half of the winter so am quite content to spend a bit more down-time and ensuring I come back injury free. A spring marathon (good or bad) would have me chomping at the bit to get training again.

I'm also not totally convinced by London. Lovely atmosphere no question but being the shy retiring flower that I am, at some points I found the crowds quite distracting - I sort of wanted them to go away and just let me get on with trying to run. The personal support was fantastic - I'm hugely indebted to everyone of you who came down and watched me and really kept me going but the big crowds of people I didn't know howling at me did get to me at times - especially when I was running badly (is it really bad that I quite liked going into the tunnel in the second half?). The course is quick but not lightning fast. The big crowd of runners at my pace was also very good but did have me focusing on what other people were doing rather than what I was doing and concentrating on my own race.

Ah well - that is the plan at least! Hopefully I'll end the year with a fair few PBs and a couple more medals!

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Bryn Running

Training diary and musings on running in general.