Making the Transition Part 3 - Strides

The first step has been taken towards being a faster more fluid runner. The previous week you'll have done your first threshold or tempo run and that's a great first step to have taken. You're now doing one of the two "base-building" work-outs. It's time to have a look at the second base-building work-out and this time it's focusing on your running efficiency.

The spectrum of running speeds is as broad as a rainbow. Most of the time you're running in green, yellow and blue. The aim of this series is to get you running in the red, orange, indigo, violet and sometimes even ultra-violet and infra-red. To touch upon speeds that you usually wouldn't see and hence give you a substantial advantage. Learning how to run at the lactate threshold will give you a big advantage and there are many stories from athletes who come off a period of just running easy miles and tempo runs and claim that they're in the shape of their life. This may well be true and aerobic ability is the number one component in endurance running but you also need to look at improving your running efficiency and giving your legs the mystical "zip" that track runners seem to have that road runners are accused of lacking.

Strides

What Are They?
Faster paced 100m accelerations done with full recovery.

The TheoryWorking on from the aerobic theory developed last time we can look at how these affect our three variables, VO2 max, RE and LT. Strides are almost entirely based on improving the running efficiency meaning that for a given pace you are running you will be using less energy and oxygen to do so as you get more accustomed to running faster. They have a minor effect on VO2 but it is minimal and little to no effect on the LT - aside from the fact that they do train the body slightly better to clear lactate from the blood but given the length and pace of the strides they are mostly alactic. What is perhaps most interesting about them is that they allow you to work on your stride length and rate as you strengthen the muscles and loosen the legs. They also prepare you exceptionally well for the minor but important surges, hills and tactical moves that may arise during a race.

The Practice
Strides are a fast-paced acceleration of approximately 100m but can really be any length from 60m to 120m. After completing one you can jog or walk back and start the next one but ensure that you are fully recovered.

You want to be focusing on a fast, efficient turn-over. More important than the speed you do them at is keeping your form as close to flawless as possible. Remember watching Haile Gebresellasie run and marvelling at that bolt upright, long striding step- try and copy it. You want to keep your arms parralel and swinging in a controlled but relaxed fashiong with wrists strong. You want to be as "up" as you can be with a lifted pelvis and allow your legs to almost flow under you. Don't overstride but ensure you feet land under your centre of gravity and concentrate on a fast and fluid turnover.

The pace is almost irrelevant here- I personally do them at something around 800 pace I think when in full hard training but 1500m pace is equally fine. The aim is to not strain. This is probably the overriding concept of this series; train don't strain. This isn't a sprint race it's a relaxed stride out. If you watch at your local race you'll see many of the local elite doing these before the race. If you feel yourself getting substantially out of breath then take your recovery as a walk not a jog back and do the next one slower focusing on driving the arms and a fast toe-off. You also don't want to feel any sort of lactate flowing into your muscles- stay loose and relaxed.

Within a session you'll generally want to do something from 6-12 but usually 8 is sufficient and any more and you'll be looking at a more serious session.

Now looking at how to incorporate them. There are two main ways of doing this and both have their merits.

The method I usually use is to do it in the middle of one of my runs- say I'm doing an hour run- I'll run out for 25 minutes, then do 10 strides with jog back recovery using a bush or the like as a landmark each time timing myself for 18-19 seconds for the first to set this landmark, then jog back 25 minutes. by doing them concurrently you can focus on each one on a different aspect of your form which I find very beneficial and helps me isolate different elements very well. The potential can arise however for it to devolve into a challenge and the risk of sprinting arises.

The second method is one which might be suitable if you do end up up running them too hard- the aim of these runs is to be alactic (without lactate) - then rather than do all of them in one go then split them up into your run. Do a 15 minute warm-up and then do a stride and carry on jogging. Every 5 minutes do a stride-out and carry on jogging until at 45 minutes when you stop and jog the 15 minutes left to get home as your warm down- you've done 6 strides during your run. This has the benefit of doing your strides over slightly different terrain but is harder to accurately judge pace- it forces you to get the "feel" right.

Some suggest doing these at the end of your run- I don't advocate this because it tempts people to sprint too much and you're running fast on tired legs and generating some lactate into the legs which isn't being cleared out.

In the first week (the second week of your tempo runs) incorporate these runs into one of your easy runs with a warm-up, strides and then warm-down lasting the length of your usual run. Aim to do 4 strides the first week, then 6 then 8. Once you've done 8 you've hit the total you need to be doing! I generally find that an 18 or so second stride and then a 100m jog back takes roughly a minute but if you need longer recovery then definitely take it but make sure you slow down your strides as well.

The Schedule:
So right now we have a weekly schedule that looks like...

4 x 40-60 minute easy runs
1x 20 minute warm-up, 8 minutes strides, 20 minute warm-down.
1 x 15 minute warm-up, 20 minutes @ threshold, 15 minute warm-down

So...
Weeks 1-4 - Get used to running 5/6 times a week
Weeks 5-8 - Incorporate threshold running and strides into your schedule.

Where...
Week 5: 2 x mile at tempo pace
Week 6: 15 minutes tempo, 4 x strides
Week 7: 20 minutes tempo, 6 x strides
Week 8: 20 minute tempo run, 8 x strides

In the next part we look at something a bit different- Recovery Weeks. I'd suggest undertaking this after finishing off getting used to Threshold and Strides.

Right - that's it for now. Catch you on the trails.
Bryn

Part 1 - Easy Running

Part 2 - Threshold Training

Part 3 - Strides

Part 4 - Easy and Recovery Weeks

Part 5 - 5k/10k Training
Part 6 - Mile Pace Training

Index of Training Articles

Making the Transition Part 2 -Threshold Running

So by now you'll have been training at a higher frequency for a few weeks and after the initial lethargy probably be feeling fairly good about yourself. You're probably finding all of your runs a little easier and starting to find yourself running more fluidly - possibly you've even lost a little weight. Hopefully you're enjoying your running more as well.

It's time for step 2: Run differently.

Once you're running regularly 5-6 times a week and focusing on relaxing more on your runs then you need to start thinking about how to progress. Running easily is a great way to progress and if all you do is build that up consistently you will make huge strides forward. You can super-charge that performance though with a combination of just 4 different sorts of runs. This piece will introduce one of them as the first step to getting you running faster. These two are what I'd define as "basics" running where you improve your basic running ability and they'll be followed up by the other two where you fine-tune the motor. Each of these sessions is prefaced by a 15 minute warm-up of very easy running and a 15 minute warm-down. You can opt whether to stretch after this warm-up. Generally I prefer to stretch at other times and when doing core but some prefer to do it now.

Threshold Running

The Theory:
The general running paradigm, greatly simplified, is that each runner has a given VO2 maximum which measures how much Oxygen you can take in and use. From this each runner can maintain a certain percentage for an hour in terms of limiting the build up of lactate - otherwise known as their lactate threshold. This is further complicated by different runners using a different VO2 volume at different paces so as one runner might run at 6mm at a VO2 of 60 whilst another at a VO2 of 65 - this is known as running efficiency.

I'll expand on this in a later post but essentially you can improve your performance by increasing your VO2 max, LT or lactate threshold or RE running efficiency. Threshold or tempo running improves your LT primarily or the %age of your VO2 max you can maintain for an hour but also has significant but lesser benefits for the novice runner of VO2 max and running efficiency at 5k-Marathon paces.

The Practice:
Threshold running is running at a pace that you can hold for approximately one hour. As a rough guide use the following paces based upon your 10k time...

40:00 -> 6:30
42:30 -> 6:55
45:00 -> 7:20
47:30: -> 7:45
50:00 -> 8:10

If your 10k is between these then interpolate.

It is better to introduce these gradually. In the first week (with the usual 15 minute warm up and down) replace one of your normal runs with a mile at the pace suggested above, run for 5 more minutes easily, another mile at the pace above. The next week after the warm-up, run for 15 minutes at the pace above. Finally graduate onto doing a 20 minute tempo run.

This is all you need to do at present. The aim of this run (and this training in general) isn't to be killing yourself- it's to be making consistent strong gains in your aerobic ability. Many choose to hit runs of this type at a very hard pace and leave themselves exhausted. When you get a chance watch the elites run on the TV at one of the major marathons or in a major 5,000 or 10,000. How hard do they look to be working? Barely at all most of the time. The key is to learn how to float through a race- not muscle through it. There will be a time to kill your body in tough work-outs but it's certainly not right now.

Whilst tempo running the aim should be to feel like you're running at a relaxed but fast pace. If you feel like you're overly straining then ease off slightly- whether you run at 6:00 or 6:15 or 6:30 isn't a huge issue as long as you feel you're working at a decent aerobic level. Fairly soon you will find it much easier to relax into this pace and hit the right pace instantly. That said I've regularly been guilty of messing up my tempo pace but the trick is to try and run by feel and get into a rhythm.

If you're training for any race distance between 10k and the marathon these sessions will be the staple of your sessions.

The Schedule:
So right now we have a weekly schedule that looks like...

5 x 40-60 minute easy runs
1 x 15 minute warm-up, 20 minutes @ threshold, 15 minute warm-down

In the next part we look at the second session that is part of our "basics" - Strides - I'd suggest integrating this into the second week of your "tempo" build up.

Right - that's it for now. Catch you on the trails.
Bryn

Part 1 - Easy Running

Part 2 - Threshold Training

Part 3 - Strides

Part 4 - Easy and Recovery Weeks

Part 5 - 5k/10k Training
Part 6 - Mile Pace Training

Index of Training Articles

Training Week Commencing 20/07/2009 til Week Commencing 24/08/2009

Week Commencing 20/07/2009
Fri: Did massage + drills PM 20 minutes cycling
Sat: massage + drills 40 minutes cycling
Sun: 60 minutes cycling
Mon: 60 minutes cycling
Tue: 64 minutes cycling (32.18@56:03)
Wed: 70 minutes cycling (16.1 @ 26:30,40 in 70)
Thu:Rest
Fri: AM 5 minutes running- no pain but still didn't feel quite right PM 40 minutes cycling outdoors got soaked.
Sat: AM 7:39 running 1 mile. Groin still not right and little bit of pain at half way but better on way back PM 90 minute cycling 53km including 5 x 2 [1] hard.
Sun: AM 4:30 running better PM 90 minute cycle (50km)

Week(ish) Totals: Running: 13 minutes Cycling: 444 minutes Glad to get some decent work on the exercise bike done- looks like it'll be my main method of training for a while!

Week Commencing 27/07/2009
Mon: 90 minute cycling 48.8km
Tue: Rest
Wed: AM 8 minutes running , relatively pain free bar one short period 90 minutes cycling (45km), PM 10M TT on exercise bike (23:45 PB), 45 minutes total
Thu: AM 10 minutes running - actually pain free (aside from tripping up over a style...) best yet by some way. PM: 90 minutes 50.50km
Fri: AM 12 minutes running- again best yet and didn't feel anything but a tingle - stopped to stretch briefly at 6 PM 2:03 65.55km on exercise bike
Sat: Rest
Sun: 10 minutes totally pain free running with decent form! 120 minutes cycling inc. 3 x 5 hard (165-170), 5 rest

Total Running: 40 minutes Total Biking: 658 minutes
Total: 698 minutes

In terms of total training minutes, bar my 104 mile week, this is probably well up there.

Week Commencing 3rd August 2009
Mon: 18 minutes running
Tue: 23 minutes easy running 90 minutes cycling
Wed: AM 15 minutes easy running
PM 15 minutes easy running felt very tired so didn't cycle
Thu: AM 5 mins v. easy running
PM 135 cycling exercise bike (74.52km) inc. 5 x 2k (0.5k rec.), 2:47,45,41,40,29 all recs just over a minute. Last effort close to flat out.
Fri: AM 30 mins running, 60 mins cycling (32.22) PM (90 mins cycling 52.21km - interesting that this didn't feel too hard as my fastest steady ride yet over 90 minutes)
Sat: AM 40 mins running 60 mins cycling (32:22)
Sun: 120 minutes cycling (66km)
Total time running: 146 minutes Total Time Cycling: 555 minutes
Total time : 701 minutes

Week Commencing 10th August 2009
Mon: 38:30 running w. omega (5.3 7:15mm few light twinges), 90 cycling 48/9km
Tue: 40 easy/steady - couple of twinges but not too bad.
Wed: 45 steady - First 25 minutes v.good, next 10 minutes some twinges, last 10 fine.
Thu: 9 min warm up, 10:30 2 mile meant to be at 2 mile pace 5:13/5:17, 9 min warm down. No real twinges or problems. 100 mins cycling
Fri: Rest day
Sat: AM 30 minutes (4.2 miles) - 7:08 pace at reasonable clip PM 30 minutes at similar pace with 3 strides in. 90 minutes cycling (48km)
Sun: AM 35 minutes running at easy pace PM 32:30 with 2 miles at steady pace (6:00/5:40) very easy and relaxed. 75 minutes on exercise bike (40km)
Total Running Time: 279.5 Total Cycling Time: 355
Total: 634.5 minutes

Week Commencing 17th August 2009
Mon: 15 warm up and down, 12 x 400 (100 jog ~30 secs) 2 77s, 5 78s, 4 79s and a 72 to close. Felt good in first session back- was moving relatively smoothly and not struggling aerobically. Target was 80 so hauled self back in. 90 minutes cycling 51km
Tue: Really bad DOMS on inner hamstring area which struggled with.
Wed: Slightly easier but still in a lot of pain
Thu: 20 minutes recovery pace- in quite a lot of pain
Fri: 40 minutes easy/steady pace- moving well and no pain
Sat: 10 min warm up 10 x 750m grass loop (1 rec.) 2:25,24,23,23,22,23,24,21 Moving very easily and could have done quite a few more but kept it short so as to not aggravate groin, 10 min rec. PM 30 minute cycle (16.1)
Sun: AM 36:30 steady 5.7 miles avg. 6:24 but pace varied - very hot and legs just felt clumsy PM 36:30 recovery @ 8:14- 4.45 miles through forest around chickney and back by rugby club. Saw two foxes. Felt Wmuch better than earlier.
Total = 242 minutes running 120 minutes cycling

Week Commencing 24th August 2009
Mon: AM 39:30 easy to steady run 5.7 mile loop. Very hot. PM 36:30 easy running @8mm with OMEGA club - kicked in over final 150m to test groin and was absolutely fine.
Tue: 12 x 400 (2 minute loop) averaging 73s with a few 71 and 72s then a 1600 in 5:22 - all fairly relaxed w/u of 8 minute w/d 10 minutes
Wed: AM 42 minutes easy 7:42mm warm with a strong wind up the Valley and back by Rugby Club. Relaxed run and felt good. Left hamstring and right calf very slightly sore after session yesterday. After this run in the afternoon I felt a pain at top of my left groin so cancelled second run.
Thu: Rest day- just did 8 minutes to test groin and was fine. 40 minutes cycling 21.1km
Fri: Tempo run, 10 warm-up, 6k avg. 5:49 but dead on my feet almost from the start with last few k around 6mm, 8:30 warm down
Sat: AM 50 minutes easy inc. 8 x Canova Hill sprints PM 40 minutes easy @ 8mm
Sun: Progression run- 15 warm up, 2k@6:30 pace, 2k@6:00 pace, 2k@5:30 pace, 15 warm down
Total: 40 minutes cycling 354 minutes running (check total)

Week Commencing 31st August 2009
Mon: AM 40 easy @8mm inc. 8 x strides, 30 minutes cycling (16.77) PM 40 recovery @9mm ran with the lads from Omega but with Peter now living in Switzerland pace is much slower!
Tue: PM session at a very windy NR - 11 @ LT and was about 2 miles (82/lap) followed by 9 x 600 off 70 seconds averaging about 1:51/52 with a 1:46 chucked in the middle for a bit of fun 41:30 cycling 22.70km
Wed: 52 minutes easy with Martin avg. 7:58mm
Thu: 15 minutes warm-up + drills/strides, Cambridge 5k, 2nd place 16:15 - meant to be at tempo pace but probably ran too hard in the middle, sat back in the first k then started to take closer order and caught leaders at about 2k when Diarmont pushed clear- ran with him till about 4k with him consistently breaking and me closing the gap then over hte last k let him go. Could possibly have tried a little harder but with race on Sunday and knowing this was already too fast didn't want to do too much. Measuring on gmaps I got the race at 5.1km. 15 w.d. with Nick, Ian and Chris. Rumours of a Hereward team emerging...
Fri: Rest
Sat: 40 minutes easy around Cardiff inc. 8 x strides and then some drills. Surprised at how much of a valley Cardiff seems to be in - ran most of it uphill through some housing estates
Sun: Cardiff 10k- 15 warm up and then about 5 minutes of strides and drills. 33:14 - struggled to keep up over first 2k with Ben Paviour then dropped back slightly and ran with a Coventry Godiva runner for most of the way reeling in two Bristol runners. 11 warm down with various runners all much better than me! Not very pleased with the time- as fast as was possible given the amount of time I had to train but nowhere near where I wanted to be. A few months hard training will get me there I hope though... PM 20 minutes recovery and then drills

Week Commencing 7th September 2009
Mon: AM 38:30 2k warm up, 4k steady (4:07,4:24,3:52,3:53), 2k warm down + Drills
PM Meant to be 40 at recovery pace with jogging group but turned out to be 3 seperate handicap efforts. Took first one of 2.2 miles v. easy at 7:5x minute miling. Second one of 2.7 miles I started at around 6mm till halfway where I eased off and ran in at 7:30mm. Last one of 1.6 miles I hit relatively hard at around 5:20 minute miling over undulating terrain. 43:01 avg. 6:36mm followed by a pint from the local brewery.
Tue: AM 40:40 avg 9:27mm (recovery) + Drills
PM 44:13 Easy/Tempo/Easy run k splits (4:50,4:32,4:40,4:24,3:29,3:10,3:01,3:36,3:43,4:30,3:32,0:40) avg 6:24mm Went out very relaxed with Nigel's group watching Chris/Nick disappear into the distance and at the dog leg roughed out they had about 2 minutes on me. Accelerated to catch them and splits show how I ran to reel them in then gradually eased off once I caught them with the last 2k relatively easy (3:32 is very very misleading for last k as it's a very significant descent for the entire k)
Wed: AM Drills!
PM: 15 wu and wd + drills and strides 3 x 3.6k @ 80/lap [3 minute one lap jog] 11:57,11:59,11:57 - hard work on the track but thankfully had Noel and Richard dropping in and out (apart from a superb effort by Noel on the second). Really pleased as these were very under control.
Thu: Rest day- AM Drills PM 38:00 cycling (21.8km)
Fri: AM 52:28, 2k warm up, 8k @ LT (3:35-3:40), 2k warm down. (3:40,3:35,3:39,3:31,3:35,3:32,3:16*,3:31) Mum decided she wanted to come along on the bike so got her to carry some water but didn't have cap on right so she lost most of it! Felt good for most of it- not totally smooth but not bad either. AVG: 3:32 (aka 2:29:26) in trainers
Sat: 15 min warm up 3 sets of 5 x 20 second hill (jog down) with 3 minutes inbetween. 10 min warm down
Sun: 90 minutes 20km averaging 7:35 split into 30 easy, 30 steady, 30 easy. K splits of Easy (5:14,5:35,5:06,5:16,5:05,4:35) Steady(4:13,4:18,3:44,4:21,4:13,3:27,3:41) Easy(4:53,4:52,4:59,5:24,5:14,5:03,0:41).

Training Week Commencing 29th June 2009

Week Commencing 29th June 2009
Mon: AM 40 easy PM 55 easy with Will Mackay around Wandlebury- nice run and good to have someone to chat with, even if he is a tab!
Tue: Rest
Wed: 15 minute warm-up, 27:53 5 miles 1st place MWRRL around Welwyn. Drifted clear of Paul Greaves with 800 to go. 15 warm down
Thu: 20 minute warm-up, 17:02 5k @ Haverhill, 1st, big group up steep first hill, pulled clear with another bloke overr 3rd k, he slowed and Harry Fowler caught us at 4k and I went clear with about 500m to go again easing clear, 15 minute warm down bare-foot on grass.
Fri: 40 min AM leg quite painful, 40 min PM leg an awful lot better and generally just a better run, 21 minutes on grass
Sat:AM 40 min easy leg not perfect but much better than yesterday PM 41:34 easy w. 24 minute barefoot on grass , leg better than yesterday but not as good as the morning. PMPM 30 mins cycling (15km) (367)
Sun: AM 60 easy PM 40 easy
Total: 467 minutes running 60 minutes cycling

I felt really good on the Sunday. Took a day off on Monday. When I ran on the Tuesday I struggled to run more than 3 minutes and was in a lot of pain- grade 2 muscle strain. A week later it was no better but then ater seeing a physio it loosened greatly and I was back doing short runs within a week of that.

Injury et al.

Okay so after 2 weeks of fairly successful racing my injury eventually overcame me. I was improving with every run from Thursday to Sunday night. Sunday night's run I was actually okay and almost pain free with my quad and groin a lot better. I took Monday off and didn't run till Tuesday evening with the hope that I would be totally pain free. How wrong could I be? I was in complete agony far worse than anything yet. When I eventually got in to see the physio I found out I had a grade two muscle strain/tear on my adductor magnus.

I've gotten onto my stationary bike and doing an hour a day- will be up to 90 or so minutes next week and just been given the go-ahead to start running and got 5 minutes done today.

The message that comes though is this. When you've got a niggle- stop running. Even if the niggle is getting better in itself the net effect may be negative as your body is a set of links and chains and you'll be overcompensating elsewhere. The quad was due to my right ankle injury and the groin due to the quad.

In the long-term though it will possibly be helpful as I now have a variety of exercises designed to correct my biomechanical problems and hopefully solve the issue long term and make me a stronger runner so maybe there's a silver lining!

Part 2 of "Transition" out tomorrow!

Making the Transition Part 1

So - you've taken up this running lark. You're running a few times a week and you're realising that actually you're not half bad at it! For a bloke you're probably running something around 45 minutes for 10k and for a lady maybe just under 50 minutes (times set for individuals 18-40 in good health generally). You've joined a running club and done a few race. There's a lot at your level and a fair stream of guys up to the local "club elite" who run 36-40 minutes for 10k and usually finish in the top 10 at the local races.

The aim of this series is to explain to the average club runner how to take the steps to not only be running the same sort of times as those "club elite" but to do so in a way that you will be able to out-race a runner of similar ability. More importantly- you'll have a foundation that could seriously take you down to being a sub 35 10k guy. The difference you'll have is that not only will you be running at the level of the 36-40 minute 10k guys - you'll do it in less time and with much more upside.

Step 1: Run more often. Run slower. Run shorter.

The first part is fairly self explanatory as to how it helps but the other two may well be counter-intuitive. The first step in becoming a serious runner is to run more frequently. Ideally you want to look at building up from a few runs a week to running every day but there is nothing wrong with doing this over the course of a fair few months. Most progress to it naturally when they realise they want to get better or more likely start training for a marathon and hit a serious training plan for the first time. Ideally you want to be running at least once a day, 6 days a week, and more likely in the long-run then you want to be hitting two runs a day. For right now in making that first step into being a sub 40 10k guy then just running once a day is likely to be more than enough.

The second part is controversial. Most would assume that if you want to run faster you need to run every run faster. This is dead wrong. One of your first steps has to be slowing down your runs so that you can get an awful lot more time on your feet and more importantly make it a very positive experience. Whilst we can all go out and slog our bodies and actually find it quite enjoyable it's still a tough experience. Maybe tomorrow you'll have a bad day at work or the weather won't be as nice- still fancy going out and working hard? By making it slower you help yourself enjoy the run much more and it becomes a really positive part of your day.

Running shorter is perhaps slightly misleading. For lots of people though running a few times a week they try and get the absolute most out of those runs. Stop it. If you're committed to this then you want to be doing much more frequent runs of a shorter length. I'd opt for someone running 40 minutes a day 6 days a week more than someone running 120 minutes twice a week. I'd say that running 60 minutes per day is a very good level to reach but I'd much rather people ran 30 minutes every day than a huge amount at the weekends. Less than about 25 minutes and you'd be better off doing 30 minutes for 5 days though.

Of course you obviously don't want to just run the same 30-60 minute run every day! Which leads to the next step which is how to start structuring your week and adding in some different elements.

Summary:
+Aim to build up to running 6 times a week with the runs ranging from 30-60 minutes.
+Accomplish this by slowing your runs down and really just enjoying it. At this stage pace is irrelevant.
+Once you've done this for two weeks then move onto the next step.

Right - that's it for now. Catch you on the trails.
Bryn

Part 1 - Easy Running

Part 2 - Threshold Training

Part 3 - Strides

Part 4 - Easy and Recovery Weeks

Part 5 - 5k/10k Training
Part 6 - Mile Pace Training

Index of Training Articles

Two Race Reports! MWRRL Welwyn and Summer 5k League Haverhill

Had a double race week this week (and have just about managed to avoid getting myself into another 10k tomorrow!).

Midweek Road Race League Div. 2

The first was the Midweek road race league division 2 at WGC, 5 miles, 1st 27:53, over the old PUMA 5 course and I think the CR is something like 22:xx! and was a former world record though course didn't seem lightning fast to me.

One bloke went out very hard and I covered him but he had died off by about 1k so by a mile we were back with the pack. Real sign of inexperience by me going with him but he looked like a very serious runner and it was an impressive pace he started at and he looked very smooth at it. Once I realised he was slowing after about 800m I could have tried pushing on and going clear but there was no way I wanted to be running solo from that far out with a race the next day. A pack quickly developed of me, very young team-mate Ed Sheperd, Steve Prosser from Bishop's Stortford who is often a local rival and Paul Greaves another team mate who had won the past two fixtures but had taken third in the first behind me and Dom Easter and by the start of the second lap it was just us 4. Pace was consistent 5:30s. Eventually me and the bloke who'd won the last two went clear though we tried to keep it slowish so that Ed could stay in contact but it was clear that Steve's age and experience was going to keep him clear of Ed. With 800m to go I just drifted clear of Paul and then relaxed for the run-in for a nice win and my first individual win in the league despite a fair few second and third places! Whilst still waiting for team results I'm certain Paul has taken the richly deserved individual title.

Summer 5k League

Having done my best for Herts Phoenix the previous night it was time to don the yellow, black and purple of the Saffron Striders. Despite having twice won the series title here I had never actually won an individual race due to over the years combinations of injury, the wrong competition at the wrong race, peaking wrongly and a lack of marshalls (causing me one year to go storming past the final turn-off through a gate, totally prepared to kick for the gate to get through first the second I saw the marshall but in this case there being no marshall...), getting beaten by a bloke one week and the next taking him apart as I returned to form but Greg Billington (boy wonder) having turned up and taken the win comfortably.

Anyways! I knew that despite my leg being quite painful I stood a very good chance of winning this race. I warmed up with team-mates Anthony Bonelli, Nick White and Tim Ellis. The course consists of a 100m straight before a km vertical hill which eases off into a gradual incline for the next km before very rapidly descending in the 3rd km whereupon the 4th and 5th km are undulating but generally downhill.

I surged into the lead over the first 50m and then slowed down to see if I could convince people to run it slowly as I still wasn't sure about my leg especially with yesterdays race still in it. Unfortunately Harry Fowler of Newmarket Joggers was having none of it and surged into the lead and led us up the hill. This meant I was able to take my customary position of dead on the shoulder of the lead runner as a pack of around 5 or 6 of us was forming comprising Harry Fowler (NJ), Vincent Coogan (NJ), Nick White (Saffron Striders), me and a Cambridge runner. This pack stayed intact all the way to to the top of the hill. As we began the descent though Vincent Coogan pushed through to the front and launched a powerful surge which I stayed with but rapidly broke up the rest of the field with Fowler being the only one to stay with us. Vincent took great advantage of the downhill and we eventually dropped Fowler though we could still hear him behind. I was still cruising and as Vincent slowed I slowed with him still lurking and at about 3.5k I could hear Fowler rapidly catching us before catching us at 4k with now the sound of a Cambridge runner behind as well. I had a quick look back to make sure the Cambridge lad wasn't storming home as Fowler took the lead and started pushing but checking my watch I stayed relaxed until it hit 15:30 and I knew I couldn't be more than about 4-500m from the finish. I then drifted wide, put in a moderate acceleration shifting up to about 10k pace from 10m/HM pace and was clear in about 200 metres whereupon I slowed slightly and relaxed on my way in with a quick glance over my shoulder with about 100m to go to ensure they weren't catching.

Whilst pleased with the win I was also pleased for Tim and Anthony who both shifted up a number of positions to 8th and 12th respectively whilst Nick had a good race to finish 5th considering he'd cycled all the way there! The Striders managed to get second in both mens and womens races behind C&C who to be honest are so much larger than most clubs in this league it should be a runaway victory for them.

Afterwards had a chance to chat to a bloke called Bob Watson who's just short of 50 and having taken up running again is in 35 minute 10k shape. I always make a point of asking the older runners who had run fast in the past (Bob had run low 31s for 10k and 68 for HM) for some advice and he passed on what seems to be one of the most helpful tips around. Find a good training group so that if you let up for a second there's 10 athletes ready to come past you and swallow you up.

Anyways, my little jaunt back into the local road racing scene has been a lot of fun with 4 race wins (Henham 10k, Stortford 10m, MWRRL Welwyn 5m, 5k Summer League Haverhill) all done very comfortably and now I can focus on getting my leg sorted and doing some more serious competition - possibly including getting myself beaten up over an 800...

Training 15th June-28th June and Stortford 10 Race Report

Week Commencing 15th June 2009

Mon: rest
Tue: 64 minutes at a decent clip with Sean, Anthony (met for first time), Tash and Alex.
Wed: 10 minute warm up, Hilly mile- won comfortably
Thu: Rest - leaving OUCCC party - was truly awesome.
Fri: 10 minute warm-up, Champion miler track handicap race- result irrelevant, won champion mier series. Then beer mile, won in a comfortable 6:21 with a double chunder but clear by over a minute. Marstons Pedigree was the name of the game.
Sat: 40 minutes easy
Sun: 10 minute warm-up, Henham 10k, won in 35:10 over very tough terrain, tempoed with 2 others till just before 8k then kicked clear over rthe space of about 400m and cruised it in

Week Commencing 22nd June 2009
Mon: Down with a really sore throat and general grogginess having slept something like 20 out of the last 24 hours. Ran at Omega as was Pete's last night before he moves to Switzerland. 25:56 @ 6:45mm
Tue: AM 38:30 easy as still suffering generally with mum alongside on bike. PM 59:30 at 7:30mm but horrendous terrain and a fair few breaks to ask "where the hell are we?" more like 7mm and closing at low/sub6mm for the last mile and a half.
Wed: AM 40 easy- much faster and easier than yesterday PM 40 easy
Thu: PM: 60 w. 25m warm up, 10m warm down and 10 x minute hills (90 jog down)
Fri: 75 easy inc. 5@tempoish and 10 barefoot around rugby club
Sat: 40 easy inc. 15 barefoot around rugby club, hamstring/groin issue still playing up a bit. Would have done a second run but realised would go over 450 which didn't want to do for first week back.
Sun: 15 easy warm-up, 10 miles, 58:41, worked on the same principle as last week. Race was a 10k and a 10 mile and again just sat in before easily surging clear then relaxing again. 8 minutes warm-down. Would have done more but thought I'd lost my wallet.
Total: 451, first decent week- only bad thing was the hamstring/groin playing up but doesn't seem to be getting worse.

Stortford 10 Race Report:

Race started at a slowish tempo going through first k in 3:30 and first mile in 5:40 but then it sped up going through 2k in about 6:45, 3k in 10:10 and 2 miles in 10:53 though slightly downhill. Shortly after that we went from decent road onto completely awful terrain- mostly tracks and the sides of fields. By this point the race had it seemed been whittled down to 2 of us. Me and Grant Ramsey from Barnet and District- a very enthusiastic bloke who's taken up the steeplechase and regularly travels around the country to the cross-challenge fixtures. I lurked behind him as we went around the country-side (fairly amiably, commenting to each other how how it was etc., I think if someone at this level got annoyed at me sitting behind then I'd just kick on then, might be different in a championship) including a killer hill at 7 miles. At 8.5 miles I surged past and quickly put some distance on him after about 400m and eased off again and ran relaxed in. Unfortunately another bloke from Serpentine that I'd thought we'd dropped caught him in the last 50m and he didn't have time to react. Overall quite pleased with an awesome trophy, very relaxed run on the whole and time must have been worth significantly faster as it was literally a XC course from about 3 miles in and managed to fairly comfortably go past two blokes who ran 2:35 and 2:37 at London this year.

Training Week Commencing 8th June 2009

Monday: Rest (exams)
Tuesday: rest (finishing exams, getting hammered)
Wednesday: 60 minutes at about 7mm with Matt Hawcroft- tipping it down but a really good run- slight tightness in my right hip flexor over the last mile or so.
Thursday: 15 w.u. with about 10 minutes barefoot on grass, session was 5 x mile off a lap jog recovery and started well with Garrett but was soon clear that something was up and I wasn't running right. First two were dead on pace at 5:00,5:00 but needed to go to the loo and was unable to seriously get bacck on hte pace. Did about 600 of that rep then 400,rest,400 of the next before 800, rest,400 of the last one so did a total of about 6k at 5k pace but not good at all. Did a long warm down, about 23 minutes. Really not sure why I struggled so badly this time.
Fri: Rest
Sat: Boars Hill 64 minutes
Sun: 76 minutes with Paddy, Cathy and Andy. Really pleasant run around various parts of North Oxford on a glorious day.
Total: Still don't want to know

Really interesting week starting running again at the same time as getting slightly inebriated most nights. Very difficult to motivate yourself to bash out 60 minutes when it's filthy weather and you've got a ridiculous hangover. Only for a week though. Aiming for closer to 60 miles next week.

Week Commencing 1/06/2009

Another poor week- some athletes only manage to post when doing well but for me it's only when I'm on a shocker!

Mon: Rest
Tue: Rest
Wed: warm up, 5k in 15:52 pacing Michelle with a 66 last lap- pushed too hard on the first 200
Thu: rest
Fri: 45 easy 6.4 miles absolutely tipping it down in buckets.
Sat: Nothing
Sun: Nothing- revising
Total/Review: another piss poor week unfortunately but I'll get a jog in tomorrow- be hopelessly drunk on Tuesday and then hopefully be back into full training by next Monday with next week being a case of just gradually getting my body used to running again.

On the plus side my body's niggles should now be totally gone allowing a serious push towards some big PBs - most importantly usually this period of 3 weeks or so would be spent totally injured most years - as it is I don't think I've had a week with no running since the end of September despite some niggles but I think I'm getting better at managing them.

A few weeks of 20 is better than one more week of 60 and then a month or more (usually more for me) of no running whatsoever. These will probably be the worst weeks of my life in terms of stress so not surprising the running will take a bit of a dip! If it was for longer I would have concentrated more on getting some training in but as it is it's a useful break to get me ready for a push towards the Autumn and Winter with maybe a few track races thrown in as well.

Diet has also gone to pot so I've put about a stone on but that'll fly off when I start running miles again. I work in a very odd (and potentially dangerous) reverse equilibrium in that when I'm running a lot I often don't eat a huge amount but when I'm not running I really big out...

Training Week Commencing 25/5/2009

Week Commencing 25/5/2009
Mon: 54 minutes easy up to Godstow and back through Nature reserve
Tue: Rest
Wed: nature reserve, breathing was totally messed up and not in a good way- really bad run, about 35 minutes
Thu: 15 warm up and down. 3 sets of 300@15,200@15,200@8 [60,300]. Times were a bit quick 46,31,27 45,30,48 45,29,28 but fairly pleased considering in exams.
Fri: One of those great runs - went out for a 40m jog and ended up doing 78 minutes, did a lap and a half around the nature reserve before heading up over th fields toGodstow and coming back down along the river before heading down the south-side of town. Really nice enjoyable run where I started out very relaxed but was really shifting by the end.
Sat: Rest- revising..ish
Sun: OUAC vs. OUCCC FOotball for about two hours. Decided any more running would stress the body out a bit too much seeing as I knocked a muscle in my back anyways.

Total time: Not nearly enough but ticking over just about. Need to get back running a bit more seriously this next week- this week I had 4 exam though so was always going to be a very poor week running-wise.

Training Week Commencing 18/5/2009

Well I guess I'm meant to do this some of the time. Training for this week- been really lax in putting it down recently but going to start again properly now.

Mon: rest
Tue: rest
Wed: Club run Sandford but got blister ~ 6-7 miles
Thu: track - 3 sets of 1200,800,400 [90,60,4 minutes] 1200s in 3:45,40,37 400s all ~65
Fri: 6.4/46:31/7:15 with Anupam- nature reserve and 2 laps- easy pace ~7:15 6.4 maybe 6.5
Sat: 6.4/41:11/6:26, 2 laps nature reserve- steady
Sun: 6.4/38:23/6:00, 2 laps nature reserve- steady, minor blister probably because had been barefoot all day. Left heel blister seems fine.
Weekly Mileage: low 30s.

Exams start tomorrow (today) so not going to get a chance to do an awful lot of running so hte plan is just to run this 6.4 mile loop most days at something like 6:15 per mile though depending on the exam it could be much quicker! 6.4 is the very rough estimate on gmaps but there is a wooded section which twists and turns a lot which I can't measure so maybe 6.5 miles. Great run as only probably half a mile total is on roads and the rest either a canal path or a trail around the nature reserve.

To the exams!

Gradually Evolving Training Philosophy

Someone today on a thread asked me the question "I'm sure I read somewhere that don't you run your sessions flat out and your long runs easy/steady?" To which my response is below - it's just a short abstract of how my own views on training should be structured in terms of LTAD.

Cross13- I did a while back which I guess is where you read it. These days as the article says I generally try and run my reps with a few seconds to spare. They generally look very quick to people (hence teh reputation) because after a few years of experimentation I know pretty much exactly where my limits are and what running at pace "X" should feel like. Also the sessions I do tend to be quite tough sessions which I know are do-able but you most might not realise it. 8 x 1000 off a 60-70 second 200m jog recovery @ 5k pace is a lot more intense than the track stuff most runners do- it's partially a framing effect (I'm only working at 5k pace for around 24 minutes whilst others might be doing up to 50 minutes) and partially the effect of just going out there and doing track-work each and every week.

My training philosophy is perhaps unsurprisingly constantly evolving and these days I'd put forward three key ideas for long-term development aside from the obvious gradual long-term build up of mileage. 1) Whilst slower running is a great introduction to the sport and encouraging participation and for recovery (on some days I do end up running 8/9/10 mm) and easy running (about MP+1 minute) is good for the bulk of your running the thing that's really important (far more than sessions) is putting in lots of runs at roughly LT + 15-30 seconds just as the Kenyans do which puts a really strong aerobic emphasis which pays off in the long term, 2) alactic speed development- this can be strides/drills 30-90m flat out - the ability to run at speed is crucial.

These are quite at odds with lactic tolerance and VO2 max development which are perhaps the cornerstones of "performance training" as opposed to "development training" - whilst there is certainly a case in the medium term for lots of sessions at goal race pace and they are definitely needed to run well I don't think that they necessarily help long-term development a huge deal- that said some VO2 max is essential just to ensure you're training at the correct speeds for your current ability but over the long-term I'd advocate the two above. Running at race pace is crucial and there are some long-term efficiency gains possible but I think these can mostly be achieved over about 2 years.

and some more stuff from earlier in response to Bazza stating that for a young athlete who can run 5:05 right now that he probably already has the speed to run 4:50 but it's is endurance that he needs to work on. Bazza often contributes to threads like this and has very solid opinions.

ore of an overarching philosophy question here. In general I completely agree with your policy for an athlete attempting to run fast this season (e.g. if I was given an older athlete I would tell them hit the endurance very very hard). But increasingly from talking to the top guys and just plain seeing from personal experience having speed is absolutely key. Aerobic endurance can be developed but the ability to have the sort of pure speed to be able to run 60 seconds for 400m comfortably is the sort of thing that needs to be continually developed over the space of about 10 years. Realistically for someone to be a truly serious athlete (e.g. sub 3:50/14:00/29:30) over anything shorter than the half/marathon you need 53 (maybe 54) repeatable 400 speed (as opposed to one-off e.g. benefit coming from start etc or huge lactic tolerance) and something in the low 1:5xs for 800. That sort of speed for most athletes just isn't there naturally and takes a lot of work to bring out if at all.

I guess the point I'm making is that yes he clearly has enough speed to run 4:50 and probably enough speed (without knowing your profile at all!) to run something in the low 4s. The question is if he wants to be a serious athlete whether he has the speed to do so? One of the barriers I'm coming up against right now is that flat out I have we reckon maybe 57 and really stretching it 56.x high 400m speed and have just run a relatively easy 4:11 1500 and 32:15 10,000 - if I long-term wanted to run much under 4 though my current speed needs to be improved realistically and whilst extended strides etc. help a lot the sort of speed needed is very hard to gain (some coming from flexibility etc.)

Is odd training a young athlete as you need to combine improving pure/repeatable speed with the huge aerobic base needed to run very fast 5 and 10,000s whilst at the same time doing a great deal of work at current race pace so that they can perform at their best at the moment. I'm doing a huge amount of my sessions at 72-80 per lap rather than working on 1500 or less pace stuff partially because in terms of a long-term marathon switch next year the very fastest pace I would ever need is 72 and that would be so far beyond my dreams we're in cuckoo land- but the ability to run relaxed at 72 will help run relaxed over the longer distances.

Quick Training Update

Hey everyone,

Just a very quick training update- as I go into my finals I'm going to be under increasing time pressures so am probably going to cut back training to something like an hour each day and pace will highly depend on stress levels! I'll try and include some strides and fartlek work as well but it will be likely a solid three weeks without serious track work so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

May well be a post or two on here as I try and relieve stress!

Hope everyone is well - please feel free to comment on any of the stories.

Best,
Bryn

Bryn Reynolds BUCS 10,000m Champion!

Bryn Reynolds BUCS 10,000m Champ from Inside the Games

This articles get it wonderfully wrong and has me down as the BUCS winner- wonderful but not quite true! Nice to see it in print though!

BUCS 10,000m Race (B) Report!

After opening the season with a marginal 2 second PB winning the Good Friday Open Meeting 3000m and a fairly respectable 15:59.9 5000m at the British Milers Club 5000m race over the past month or so hopes for a really fast race were low but buoyed unexpectedly with a 4:11, 9 second PB over 1500m on Wednesday at the Oxford University Cuppers for second place.

Entering the 10,000m (25 laps of the track) at the British University Championships on the basis of existing personal bests I was switched at the last moment to the B race 8 hours later. Despite this I tried to stay positive over the day and was hoping to break 33 minutes for 10km for the first time and lower my 33:16 PB.

The race started off with a Sheffield University lad breaking for the front very quickly and gaining a 20m lead over the field with myself sitting in 4th place behind a Southampton and Cambridge athlete. As we gradually reeled in the Sheffield athlete I was feeling remarkably relaxed and actually couldn't quite believe the splits that were coming as the Sheffield athlete was caught and tucked in behind us. The track was quite windy but thankfully I was well sheltered by the other athletes but not for long!

As we went through 5000m in 16:10 I couldn't believe quite how relaxed I felt (many Tuesday runs have felt much harder!). I coudl feel the pace slow as the Southampton athlete tired and when I heard my coach call out that the last lap took 81 seconds as opposed to the 77s we had been clipping through I knew I had to move at the 6000m mark. Moving with a sudden injection of speed I lowered the pace down to 73/74 second laps with a 7th kilometre of 3:07 to put myself clear of the field with the Cambridge athlete attempting to stay with me but dropping backwards. As I pulled clear I knew I had to keep pushing and despite now tackling the wind entirely on my own and having to run hard. Consistent 77 second laps gave me hope that despite struggling meant I knew I had a chance of a good time. With a half lap lead by the end I managed to sprint the final 100m for a time of 32:15- a one minute and one second PB over my best ever time before and for the win in the B-race! My time inserted into in the A-race would have put me in 9th place (the field was 21 strong) of all British Universty 10,000m runners and it is perhaps worth noting that some of the athletes in that race were substantially older than me (the winner was 31!).

Overall the time last year would have put me in the top 50 in the country and top 5 Under 23s though obviously many top runners don't run 10,000m on the track. In conclusion I'm very pleased - especially with a negative split of 16:10/16:05 and for managing to win by a commanding margin.

Best wishes to all!
National Final (Do I really have to mention the B?) Winner Bryn :D.

(Still on a bit of a high!)If I find a photo will post it up!

Dave Norman 5k

Okay- so I went out there with the aim to run 15:30-15:40, to do this I needed pretty much ideal conditions and some strong competition. Unfortunately the combination of a fairly strong wind and poor pacing in the middle sections results in me running 15:59 and closing in 34- whilst this is encouraging in terms of it being my second fastest time ever and faster than I opened last season it is also a bit dissappointing as I know that a month ago I was in the shape to run 15:30.

That said- last year I had someone running ahead of me for a long way before I took it on myself for the last section. This year I was alternating laps with Richard Mann who ran very well for a 16:06, but as the pace slowed I think had there been someone pushing me to go faster and faster then I might have been a touch faster. As it was the group ahead went off at sub 15:30 pace (in retrospect I maybe should have gone with them) and though a couple dropped off and I was reeling them in I was never quite close enough to catch them. I definitely think I was missing a bit of get-up-and-go today. As in the 3k I definitely left it a lap too late to push on with it feeling a bit easy but being an 81 second lap which is really a bit ridiculous as that's getting close to 17 minute pace.

That said- I'm feeling very rested and relaxed and I think the foot is now pretty much sorted. I can now hopefully get a reasonable if not stunning 10,000 done at BUSA (hopefully sub 33). Get my exams out of the way and then try and run considerably faster. I think the potential is there but it's going to take a little while.

Liz Yelling Names Baby Adidas

As regards Liz Yelling not running another marathon this article reckons she will.

Liz Yelling Plans to Carry on Marathon Career Post Baby

"LONG-TERM PLAN: Liz Yelling is targeting next year's London Marathon - but not before she gives birth to her first child (Adidas)"

Looks like she probably didn't read the conditions of her last sponsorship contract properly. Nice publicity by Adidas though considering how much attention Isla gets at the finish line. That kid is going to get bullied like anything at school- though they'll probably be in the latest trainers.

I do hope Liz gets back to her best and runs well as she's definitely our number three marathoner at present behind Paula and Mara. Good luck to her with the pregnancy as well!

Quick Work-Out Posts

Okay, decided that rather than try and make longer posts instead ot make shorter posts and hopefully that'll get me posting more frequently.

Have managed three fairly short sharp work-outs over the past 7 days. Firstly 4 x 400 with 2 minutes recovery. I managed to clock 61,63,64,65 off a fairly stationary start. Obviously this isn't blazing but the aim was to hit 64s rather than absolutely kill myself and in general I would say this workout was a succesful one as the first time I have gone under realistically 68 seconds per lap this year. I'm gradually working down to faster and faster paces and think the work I did last term with loads of stuff at 74-80 seconds per lap over longer distances with short recovery is really starting to pay off now as the transition isn't too painful.

Next one up was 4 x 800 with 10 minutes recovery with the 800s being split into the first 200 at 800m pace, 400 at 3000m pace and then 200 at 800m pace. I reckon for me right now those paces should be roughly 64 (maybe 31.5...) per lap for 800 and 72 per lap for 3000. Of course this should mean that 68 per lap for 1500 should be accomplishable but we'll leave that for another day... First one I was to be quite frank amazed at the finish. First 200 was a bit too fast in ~29/30 then an almost perfectly paced 71/72 before closing in 30 for a total time of 2:11. 2:11- my damn official PB! (2:08 in training) and tbh it didn't even feel that hard- okay yes the last 200 had knackered me a bit but I was on the whole still in fairly good nick and I think if I'd run harder over the middle 400 and eased off a bit in the first 200 a PB would definitely have been doable. It was quite weird with the very long recoveries as to be totally honest I was feeling worse 7-8 minutes in than I was at the start! The rest I concentrated heavily on getting the pace right and succeeded with the reps going 2:11,2:15,2:17,2:16 the third to last rep was poor mostly a I fell away over the final 200 as Anupam kicked away but I redeemed myself on the last one. Overall I was very pleased with this work-out as to be honest I had no idea I could run a 2:11 in a rep session and certainly not with mixed pace. It was also great to really get the lactic acid going.

Finally tonight I did a "test" session for Saturday where the target is 15:30 or 74/lap which right now seems a big ask but I know I was in the shape to do it a month ago so I just have to hope. My "test" or "pace" session is 5 x 400 with a fast 100m jog at race pace. I hit the paces fine and in fact was a little bit quick with 74,72,72,73,74 but I did feel more tired than I should at 5k pace though the 100 jogs were fast (~25). Hopefully Saturday will be a little better.

Ankle situation is pretty much unchanged with no pain since Sunday. In general I'm hoping that the relaxed approach over the past few weeks with not much mileage but hitting the sessions is going to work-out. Realistically if I'm back running at full capacity soon then 3-4 weeks at 40 or so miles a week is not going to kill me and might even help.

I've just seen a pair of the Wave Creations on sale for £70... am sorely tempted despite blowing money on shoes just last week but that said having 3 or so pairs alternating could only be a good thing.

Will update on Saturday with race result. Good luck to the lads and lasses going to race at RAF Cosford.

Apologies for Lack of Updates and a PB!

Hey,

Apologies for the lack of updates- in future I'm going to try and update more frequently but possibly with less though a full training break-down will be coming...

I've unfortunately managed to pick up a quite bad ankle injury. I could feel some problems on the outside of my foot on my last day at Oxford but still had a good weeks training the following week. Deciding to play it cautious I then took a week off with only two work-outs- unfortunately over that week my ankle got significantly worse. Thankfully after one disastrous Tuesday run the next week I have been on a relative improvement since then and haven't missed many days running but quantity is way down. Quality-wise I missed two work-outs that week and a fair few steady runs. This week I did a "half" session on the Wednesday with 3 x mile (2:30 easy lap jog) with times of 5:05, 5:01 and 5:03 whilst easing off a bit for my training partner.

Then on Friday I decided with my ankle not particularly playing up on the Wednesday and just the residual soreness to chance a 3000m race. Shorter than I normally race well at but not quite as bad as the 1500m I thought it'd be an interesting race as rather than go for a fast time I decided to race it a bit more tactically. It was at the Herrts Phoenix Good Friday Open Meet and therefore my home meet! Having put down my PB and it being the fastest time there (though 3 more had predictions of 9:10-9:15 so it wouldn't be easy!) the pressure was building...

With 13 in the race it was going to be a scrum and unfortunately my clubmate Paul Greaves ended up getting shoved directly into me with my clipping the back of his shoe- thankfully no serious damage was done. By 150m in mark I was still boxed in at about 8th place with a girl and 2 young lads of about 13 or less ahead of me together with all 4 of the more serious threats. Adam Searle from Phoenix's long time rivals Stevenage and North Herts, a Enfield and Harringey athlete, a Southend athlete and clubmate Greaves. As we came up to the 400m point in around 72/73 seconds I went past the two young lads and moved comfortably into 5th place.

This brings me to something I just majorly do NOT understand about young athletes. Those two lads went on to run something like 10:30 or more than 84 seconds per lap and they went through the first lap in 72 seconds??? That is probably as fast as their 800m pace. For any younger athletes out there reading- if you get the pace right you will run a MUCH better race.

Anyways- I was settled into the group and sitting along quite comfortably as they towed me along at 9 minute pace and as this was meant to be more of a tactical race with hopefully a reasonable time I was quite happy! I felt very relaxed just sitting at the back of the group with the Southend lad up front. We went through 800m in 2:24 and I went past Paul on the home straight on the third lap as he dropped off the group. Now we were down to 4 and no-one looked like dropping off or particularly kicking on with Searle, E and H (Adam Jones) both happily sat behind Southend (Matt Clarke). We went through the km in 3:01 and then the 1200m split was 3:37/8 Still dead on pace. Unfortunately as I stayed lurking at the back I could feel easier and easier whilst normally this would be a good thing I knew it meant the pace must be slipping. Sure enough 1600 came in 4:53 or about 4 seconds lost on that last lap. I decided to make my move and on the home straight go into position and then kicked on with 3 laps to go (but still 200m more at the slower pace) and swiftly put enough distance on the group that they couldn't sit on me (far too often I see athlete make a break and not get enough distance to be clear of the group). The 2km split of 6:06/07 showed I'd made up a touch of time but still no chance of the sub 9! As I continued to try and break away I could hear supporters cheering for Jones apparently in pursuit of me and that he was catching. I kept on working whilst keeping a bit in reserve in case he caught me with the wind definitely tiring me out and the new faster pace making the lactic kick in. As I went through the bell still clear in 7:58 I could feel myself slowing and tried to kick on a bit and as I came down the back straight I thought I had it. Coming around the bend I could hear renewed cheers for Jones but held back until the straightaway where I left everything go for 9:07 and one of my faster 3000m finishes yet together with a win! Then looking down at my watch I realised I may have run a PB albeit only 2 seconds! This was very unexpected as I thought from the 1600 and 2km splits of 4:53 and 6:06 that it was out of the window- if I'd realised I was on for a PB I think I'd have had maybe a touch more in the final 400m because as it was I was thinking more about kicking on if Jones caught me. Eventually Jones was second in 9:11 with Searle in 9:14 and Clarke in 9:22. As both Jones and Searle are 2 dead or sub 2 800 guys pulling clear of them is great.

Splits of 3:01/3:05/3:01 are encouraging. I felt very relaxed through the first km. The second km the group slowed by around 6-7 seconds and my hard last 200m sped it back up before the final km being hard work on my own. I think sub 9 can and will happen very shortly provided my ankle heals and I can start doing some lactic work. Most important will be getting into the right race! I think I'm most happy about at 1600m being 4:53 and finishing in 9:07. In lots of previous races I go through 1600 in 4:48 and fade fairly badly- today I was kicking on and finishing strongly. I have little doubt that if the group had carried on at 9 minute pace I would have a sub 9 right now.

So good news for the summer provided this ankle heals up!