I could argue as much as I like that I have come close - just two or three seconds away from a new 5k pb at both of the last two Catforth Canters and the Sale Sizzler, and of course being denied over 10k by a short course. Also a good performance over the half at Freckleton saw me come within a whisker of setting a new best time there too. But the fact is, I simply hadn't managed it.
I have felt in good form ever since the marathon, and sure I have won plenty of races locally - both individually and as part of a competitive team - but I had been left feeling recently that I had yet to really convert that form into times that really reflect the standards that I now set myself across all distances. At the end of the day, I know that it is times that people will judge you on, not always necessarily what you win, but how fast you cross that line. The clock doesn't lie.
So yes, I had begun to become a little bit frustrated that my times had plateaued off a little bit, and although I was always confident that it was only a matter of time until I next converted a good run into a fast time, I was becoming more and more agitated for it to hurry up and happen.
Running can be very much a confidence sport. Winning the races that I have has given me increased belief that I can compete with other runners that run even faster times, and running amongst a higher class should in turn help me to improve further. That is one of the things that I am finding out with my training at the moment.
After two fairly successful weekends of racing over 3-4 miles at the relays, I felt as though I was ready to have a real go at getting my 5k time down soon. So I took the decision to skip the first cross country fixture of the mid-lancs league season and instead to head off to Lancaster to run the final 5k of their summer series.
Lancaster 5k is a race that has a very good reputation for providing a fast and flat course, but for some reason it is one that I had never got around to actually doing prior to this weekend. I won't be waiting as long before I return, that is for sure. It is a race that provides everything you could ask of it. A fast start and finish on the track, with a nice smooth cycle track path for the remaining 2.5 miles, it is a course that is well designed for quick times.
The only shame is that the front end of the race was maybe not quite as stacked with sub 16 minute runners as it has been in the past, if that had been the case, i think that I could have ran even quicker than I did.
I went out hard from the off, with William Onek of Lancaster and Morecombe pushing me through the lap of the track and out across the first mile of the cycle track. I purposefully didn't look at my watch at all throughout the race, choosing instead to run purely on feel and to let my legs and body tell me how fast I could and should be going. The plan worked, as I nipped over the line in a new PB time of 15:14, taking a full ten seconds off my previous best for the distance. Looking at the splits on my watch, I probably set off a tad too quick, but as I said earlier I think if pushed harder in the second half I think I could have gone quicker if I needed to. My splits read: mile 1 - 4:45; mile 2 - 5:01; mile 3 - 5:02.
Delighted with a new PB, I doubled up the weekends racing with Preston 10k the following day, and although I never threatened to reclaim my title there from last year, as David Rigby cruised to a comfortable victory, I did manage to claim a second PB of the weekend, running home in 32:35 for second place, knocking 4 seconds off my old 10k best.
A successful weekend of racing and I got through it all in one piece, and managed to keep up my recent good mileage in training with another 75 mile week too. Possibly my most enjoyable run of the weekend came late in the day on Sunday, as I jogged a recovery run after Preston 10k with Moll, who did brilliantly to do 1.7 miles - we'll make a runner of her yet 😜 We keep pushing on!
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