This has been a conscious effort to get myself fitter and faster in general, but the main catalyst has been the targetting of a couple of big upcoming races on my calendar.
The most important goal that I am working towards is Leeds Abbey Dash in mid-November, however I am also due to participate in the Palma Half Marathon too. By upping my mileage and the intensity of my training I had hoped to be able to have a good crack at my half-marathon PB in the Spanish sun.
That race is now just eight days away, and the closer it has gotten, the stronger I have felt...which is where the doubts about my target began to creep in. Over the last couple of weeks in particular I have felt stronger and stronger, and believed that I was all set to run a fast time. I didn't want the heat to put paid to my potential new personal best.
So during the course of this week I began to consider a change of plan. There was a relatively new half marathon race, set in rural country lanes just a twenty minute drive from my house. Last year, the race was won in a low 68, and it has quickly gained a good reputation as being a fast, flat course. The problem? It was this weekend, and just 8 days before the Palma Half I was really unsure whether of not to do it, as it seemed just too close to be able to double up and race well at both events.
Having asked Alan Taylor whether he would be open to entries on the day and being given a positive response however, I was leaning towards the idea of going for it. I still wasn't entirely sold on it though, and took advice off some trusted friends and experienced runners too.
In the end I decided to leave the decision as late as possible, and it wasn't until I woke up this morning, opened the curtains and saw the perfect conditions that I actually made my mind up to go out and race.
I continued with my current training programme as normal throughout the week (and an easy 7 miles tomorrow evening should take me up to 77 miles for the week), although my usual track session on Tuesday had been cancelled, so I had to substitute that for the Wesham 4 mile winter handicap race on Monday night as an alternative. I ran it as a hard tempo run and was pleased to record 20:44 for quite an undulating two lap route.
Then on Thursday, I met up with Rob Affleck (back after Berlin), Gethin Butler (on the back of his National duathlon championships) and Joe Monk (who ran his Preston Park run PB last week). We had agreed on a pace of about 5:30s, with the other three doing 5 miles, and me adding an extra lap of Preston docks to take my distance up to 6.5 miles. I felt incredibly strong and the pace easy as I actually found myself running 5:20s throughout. It was during this session that I think I knew I really wanted to do the Valiant's Half whilst I was in such form.
Also this week, I had a shock when it suddenly crossed my mind just how many miles my trainers and racers that I was currently using had actually done. I had two pairs of racers, both of which I have been using since January. Seen as I use them for track, tempo's and even the odd long run, as well as races, it is fair to estimate that they have banged out some 800 miles each since I purchased them!! I always like to get my money's worth out of them, but upon inspection, they were both completely gone and ready for the bin.
So I made the most of an early finish from work on Thursday and went to buy myself a new pair. I ended up getting the new Adidas Ultra Boost model. They are predominantly more of a long distance shoe, with extra cushioning and 'bounce', but I felt that they were as light as any racer, and so took the decision that these are the pair for me. I have always worn adidas for the last 3 years, and have to say that these are definitely the most comfortable and responsive that I have had yet. They get a big thumbs up from me so far, even if they are ridiculously expensive at £130 rrp!
After breaking them in with an early morning run before work on Friday, I gave them a race debut at Valiant's, and they have started to pay for themselves already with a good race win bonus!
I had to run the race completely on my own from the start, so I knew it would be a hard task to better my PB time of 71:54 set at Wilmslow Half earlier on in the year. To do so, I would need to average better than 5:29 pace throughout on my own.
I did so though. Comfortably. The hardest part of the race was actually settling in to a rhythm at the start, as it was difficult judging the pace on my own early doors. I had set a target of getting to 10 miles at 5:25s and then assessing whether or not I was in any position to push on in the last 5k.
As I was on my own though, it turned into more of a mile by mile race against the clock as I kept doing the maths in my head trying to figure out where I was at compared to where I needed/wanted to be. My pace was fairly consistent throughout and overall I would go so far as to say that this is by far my most pleasing, complete and controlled race I have ever put together. I smashed my PB, taking 95 seconds off the old one and finishing in 1st place in 70:29, a clear 6 and a half minutes ahead of second placed Wesham team mate James Mulvany.
The best thing is, I honestly believe that if I had company around me, I think I would have comfortably broken seventy and maybe even gone a little quicker still...but that just bodes well for the future. Now is a time for recovery, with a massage booked in for this afternoon and maybe even another one on Monday night if I can squeeze it in before Palma next week.
Today's splits were: 5:19, 5:23, 5:21, 5:24, 5:22, 5:20, 5:25, 5:19, 5:23, 5:25, 5:19, 5:22, 5:14 and a 47 second dart to the line.
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