running home by Alaistair

It’s only been 3 weeks since my last post and to be fair it actually seemed so much longer; why is it that everything we do running related becomes so magnified in the extreme. When injured the time passes quickly and the missed training opportunities appear to flash by yet when in the midst of focused training time feels like its standing still…don’t figure really. That’s were I’ve been these last 3 weeks, trapped happily drifting from one training run to the next, running, resting, running, resting, just willing the achy bits to repair.

Racing for August was put totally on the back burner; confess that I did come close a few times as the fitness slowly returned and the pain whilst running eased. Talking of pain when I run, not sure will ever be able to run totally pain free, not entirely sure anyone actually ever does? What I wonder was whether by running with a modicum of pain defines you as a runner, keeps each run honest and your efforts focused. Figure if I ever managed to find myself able to run pain free then would only get carried away and run to oblivion once again…let’s face it we are all running from something.

My plan to increase the weekly mileage by 10% has reached a halt with my current pain tolerance threshold reached. Did try to increase the runs to 5 a week but the legs can’t cope just yet…patience is a virtue I simply don’t possess:

Tue 23 Aug, 7.21 miles, 58:10, Bishopthorpe Rd

Wed 24 Aug, 6.20 miles, 47:19, Holgate

Fri 26 Aug, 8.42 miles, 1:06:00, Sim Balk Lane

Sun 28 Aug, 12.21 miles, 1:40:15, Fosse Island

Tue 30 Aug, 7.20 miles, 53:46, Bishopthorpe Rd

Wed 31 Aug, 6.24 miles, 47:17, Holgate

Thur 1 Sep, 5.42 miles, 42:52, Askam Bryan

Fri 2 Sep, 8.42 miles, 1:03:51, Sim Balk Lane

Sun 4 Sep, 15.72 miles, 2:04:46, Nevis Way

Tue 6 Sep, 7.33 miles, 58:25, Exelby

Thur 8 Sep, 8.13 miles, 1:03:13, Exelby

Fri 9 Sep, 7.12 miles, 55:43, Exelby

Certainly in the last 3 weeks have wrestled with the notion whilst running, is that if its hard work then am running to fast, so each run have tried hard to stay in the comfort zone; largely succeeded; not quite ready yet to slow down completely.

Yesterday as I stood on the start line felt ready, prepared & totally relaxed. This was the final race in the Yorkshire Dales Race Series (formally the Black Sheep Series). The venue Wetherby racecourse, a stone throw west of York. The early part of the season had gone extremely well for me and found myself challenging for 2nd & 3rd place for my age in the race series. Recent injuries put paid to an easy win so the last couple of races have been a real struggle, but not yesterday. I had no excuses, no reason not to run well, nothing hurt enough to slow the effort, this was all going to be about fitness and running smart, nothing else. Equally not wanting to compromise the good progress had made on the injury front figured a run of about 43 minutes might be enough, anything more would be a step beyond my current fitness level.

My warm up started 1 hour before the race, nothing crazy just easy running and stretching for no more than a couple of miles. The start had been moved onto a small service road at the back of the racecourse. Was very narrow and the huge field of runners would be funnelled tightly meaning the start would be frantic. I cheekily positioned myself close to the front amongst some very lean, mean looking runners but what the heck! The start was delayed 5 minutes, which resulted in me standing around cooling down for 15 minutes before the off. The narrow start meant the scramble to get away was actually not that bad from the front, did feel for the runners towards the back (post race reports on FB report was a real bottle neck).

Settled quickly and didn’t allow myself to push the effort early on. The plan was for 2 sensible miles then work the effort hard for the final 4; the blustery conditions didn’t help. First km in and the route hit the hardest part of the course, a rough farmers track that lasted a good 2km, kept the pace going well over the rough ground to be greeted with a cheeky climb at the end of the track. Carried the pace well into the climb and worked hard to recover. All told there were 3 road bridge climbs with the hardest coming at 8km. At this stage of the race couldn’t have worked much harder, everything was flowing well and felt was functioning at about 80%. Into the last mile was easily passed by a male runner looking very much in my age group, try as I might just couldn’t stay with him and hoped desperately, that the result had worked so hard to achieve, was not slowly evaporating before my eyes. Lifted my effort into the last quarter mile running a very pleasing 6:15 min/mile split. Finished strong and recovered quickly.

Sun 11 Sep, Wetherby 10K, 43:16

Pace Splits: 6:35, 6:52, 7:07, 7:11, 7:02, 7:03, 6:15

Was it enough to secure a top 3 spot in the series? I have yet to discover as the race results are slow to appear; am happy with the effort on the day so we will have to wait and see!

The drive home was short and before the stiffness hit dropped my bag in the kitchen and ran again on the York flats. Kept the pace easy but felt an effort all the same, didn’t take long before fatigue kicked back in. The run was a good leveller and a stark reminder of what’s awaiting next weekend, GNR & the John Reid Road.

Sun 11 Sep, 5.20 miles, 42:54, Cross Keys...