My overall mileage this week and my training was basically tailored to make sure that I didn't overload myself with workload and to ensure I got plenty of rest and recovery between the two races. That meant a lower mileage week and also a lot of easy running, with no track session at the start of the week, tempo run towards the end of it, or a regular long run so to speak.
Instead, I ran easy on both Monday and Tuesday morning and evening ( limited to 30-40 minute jogs) ahead of race number one at Stanley Park, Blackpool for the first race of the new interclub season.
I had toyed with the idea of giving this one a miss, as I knew that I wanted to prioritise an effort at a pb over the 10k distance. However, I also had plans for the interclub series, as I had hoped to follow up last year's individual title by adding a team prize this time around.
So with that in mind, I knew that I would have to try and lead by example and look to provide the team with a race win to give us the best possible chance of a good result in the opening fixture.
I led the two-lap 4 mile race from start to finish, and ran well in blustery conditions. I had company in the first mile, as Rob Affleck (2nd, Preston Harriers) and Luke Minns (3rd, Blackpool), came with me as I attempted to break away early on. Apparently the first mile was sub 5 minutes, however I'm not entirely sure of the splits as I took the decision this week to run on feel in these two races and so not to wear my watch.
The second mile was ran into the wind, and as I kept up the momentum, I managed to break free from the other two and build up a healthy lead. With hindsight, this is probably where I made a slight mistake - I could have maybe eased off a bit more in the second half of the race and saved some energy for the weekend. But racing on feel, and feeling good, saw me continue to press on perhaps a little more than I had to. From a racing head point of view, I was running well and feeling very comfortable and in rhythm, so I made sure of the win and took it one race at a time.
I finished off with a solid victory in 20:27, a fair bit off the pace from last season's fixture at the same venue, but in the conditions and with no real competition in the second half of the race I was very pleased overall.
After the race, I was presented with the 2015 individual series title, and am delighted to now see my name on the Shield with some really top class athletes. Seeing what these guys have since gone on to achieve inspires me to continue pushing to be the best that I possibly can be. Hopefully this will not be the pinnacle for me, but more of a solid platform to build from.
Unfortunately, after a shock and very disappointing result in the team standings in the first fixture, it looks as though Wesham will not be adding that elusive club title this season, after a nightmare evening which saw us return a result of 6th place out of the 7 competing clubs. Missing several key members through marathon tapering, injury, holiday and work commitments, we just couldn't compete and it will be very much an uphill battle from here on in. We will just have to try and win as many of the remaining meetings as possible and hope some of the results go our way, but it will be extremely difficult to win the series from here.
Thursday and Friday were spent recovering as much as possible from the midweek race, and so I again limited myself to doubling up with morning and evening half hour runs.
Saturday provided me with a nice rest day too, as I ran the local Preston park run with Moll for the second week running. She did excellently once again - knocking a minute and a half off her previous effort and producing faster splits throughout the entire run. She even came up with a sprint finish to out do me over the finish line - I like her competitiveness! 😂
After the park run, I went to have a sports massage and then put my feet up for the afternoon, resting up.
On Saturday night, I was supposed to have being going out with a group of friends, having been invited to the house warming of my best friend and his fiancé. Although I did go for an hour, I felt both guilty and gutted that I couldn't stay for longer for the fear of being tempted into staying out, drinking and missing the following mornings race - especially as I had to be up at 6:30 in order to travel to Cheshire in time for the early start. So there was me sat drinking a pint of water, as all my friends around me cracked open the cans and bottles! I had a quick catch up and left before the rest carried on their evening, before heading out for a night in Blackpool - there is no way I would have been in any state to run if I'd gone!
It can be tough as a runner having to make such sacrifices in order to produce the performances that you are striving for. Usually I would have let my hair down and picked another race instead, but having already missed two of the quickest 10k's in the country at Trafford and Salford in he last few weeks, and following on the back of such a disappointment in the half, I took the decision that this was one race that I just couldn't forfeit - especially with how much the 10k distance has dogged me over the last 18 months.
I am lucky that I am surrounded by very understanding friends and family, who know how important my running is to me. I appreciate how fortunate I am, and will make it up to them soon!
This morning at Cheshire 10k, this particular sacrifice proved worthwhile, as I managed to set myself a new personal best for the distance of 32:06 - some 24 seconds faster than my previous best time.
I was in a nice little three man pack through to 4K with Rob Affleck and Nigel Martin of Sale. At that point I went through a bit of a rough patch, for what reason I'm not really sure - possibly paying for the early pace, possibly for the race a few days previously, probably a mixture of the two!
Once those two opened up a gap on me, it soon increased and basically meant that I was forced to run the remainder of the distance on my own. I got things back together at about 6k and ran strongly towards the finish - albeit panting, grunting, spitting and generally giving it my all(!), and could see 2nd, 3rd and 4th place ahead of me right up until the finishing stages, unfortunately with nobody to work with to try and up my pace, I was just unable to summon up any extra energy to close the gap on those ahead of me, although it never increased any further.
That was the only disappointment of the day, the lack of quality at the top end of the race, in terms of weight of numbers. The organisers had handed out free entries to sub 33 minute runners in order to try and bulk up the standard, and I had expected to find myself closer to 15th than the 5th place I ended up finishing in.
As a course, I would really recommend Cheshire 10k to anybody looking for a fast race. It is fairly flat, with some gentle rolling undulations. The fact that it is rural and traffic free make it perfect for a potential pb course. A big well done to the race organisers, I will definitely be returning.
This week also produced one more landmark for me, as I clocked up my 1000th mile of the year so far. Hopefully many more to follow.
Total mileage for the week: 63
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:40
Total mileage for the month so far (April): 95
Total mileage so far 2016: 1035
Average miles per day 2016: 10.24
