Comfort zones

If there is one improvement that I still have to make to my training and my running in general, it is my ability to push myself through the pain barrier and force myself to hurt more in order to improve my top end speed.

I like to think I'm not a slouch on the track, but it is easy to slip into your comfort zone bubble when you are doing much of your training on your own.

In the last couple of months, the grass sessions that I have done with the Preston Harriers group were great for me, as training as part of a large group somehow makes it easier to push yourself from a mental perspective. Likewise, in a recent track session with Chris Livesey I had to push my limits in order to try and keep with him over 600 metres. 

Apart from those sessions though, much of my speed work in the last few months have been done on my own or away from the track. I have managed to tick over, and last week I was delighted with how my 1000m session went, but there is no doubt that it is easier to train at your maximum when there are others around you to bounce off and work alongside.

So from that point of view, this week has been a welcome change, as I have had company on the majority of my runs and all of my main sessions through the week for the first time in quite a while.

As well as my usual weekly session with Rob Affleck on Thursday evening, I also met up with Blackpool's Luke Minns for runs on Monday, Tuesday and also Saturday's long run.

On Monday we did a fairly long, steady run, as we clocked 11.5 miles at 6:35 pace. Tuesday was a big bonus for me personally, as I had been anticipating having to do a solo track session again at Cottam, but as I was working in Blackpool I managed to arrange with Luke to meet up at Stanley Park straight from work. 

As Luke is predominantly a shorter distance athlete, and specialises on the track disciplines, I knew that he would really push me to my limits pace-wise, and that is exactly what I need. We did a session tailored towards meeting somewhere in the middle of our two varying focuses. We started off with 2 x 800m, followed by 4 x 400m and then finishing with 4 x 200m. The short, sharp stuff is something that still feels quite alien to me - and seeing just how easy Luke made it look when running away from me in the home straight was an eye-opener! I was pleased with how it all went though, and we got into a good rhythm and into running at a high intensity. For our 800s, we clocked 2:17 and 2:14, following up with 61, 62, 62 and 65 seconds for the 400s (Luke was quicker than this, these are just my times!) and 29, 29, 29 and 30 for the 200s (again, well behind Luke!)

One noticeable difference was the recovery between reps, which were slightly longer than I would usually have, but that was definitely much needed as we were going at a much higher intensity than I would have done on my own.

On Wednesday I had an easy morning and evening double run, each 5 miles at just under 7 minute mileing.

Thursday, the second speed effort of the week, was again the 2 x 2 miles same as I had done the week previous. Similar to the previous week, I managed consistent pacing whilst feeling comfortably uncomfortable ( if that makes sense!?) averaging 5:04 pace throughout the four miles.

Friday was an easy day, with 5 slow miles, ahead of my long run on the Saturday morning. I jogged down to Ribby Hall to meet up with Luke and we ran the Freckleton Half marathon route and started off at 6:20 pace before working our way through the gears and hitting 5:40s in the final couple of miles to finish off with an average of around 6:08 for the 13 miles. I topped mine up to 16 with the warm up and cool down to give me a nice long distance run. I don't think I've convinced him to step up to the distance just yet, but I'll keep working on him 😂

It has been good to have some extra company on these runs as a bit of a change, and it certainly takes your mind off the effort you're exerting compared to when you are doing all your running on your own.

I rounded off the week with a steady paced 9 miler on Sunday to give me a good solid final mileage for the week. Next week will see me reign it back in again as I taper off ahead of Cheshire 10k next Saturday. Fingers and everything else are now crossed for the weather to continue to hold out for the week as I am feeling in a positive frame of mind for this one.

Total mileage for the week: 74

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:42

Total mileage for month of October: 311

Total mileage so far this month (November): 63

Total mileage so far 2016: 2894

Average miles per day 2016: 9.37

Control

I've had something of a bumper training week this time out, enjoying two solid speed sessions and my highest mileage week in some time.

I got the week off to a solid start with a steady 11.5 mile run on Monday evening, packing some much needed longer miles to get he week's mileage off to a good start. Pace-wise, this run was nothing special, but I'm starting to learn at last that not every run needs to be blasted out, but that sometimes it is more about time on feet and controlling the session.

Speaking of which, Tuesday's track session was probably my best controlled track session I've done to date in my opinion. I had set out to do between 6-8 x 1000m depending on how the session went and the sort of pace I was managing to record. I did this off a 200m jog as part of a 90 second recovery. It was a session that I had to do on my own, so I was aware that mentally it would be difficult to sustain a high tempo pace and push myself through the pain barrier. I had anticipated that I would be looking to record rep times ranging anywhere between 3:00 and 3:10 as I haven't done too much real track work in recent weeks and I was unsure just what level my top end speed would be at.

However, having started off with a solid first rep of 2:56, in which I actually found myself deliberately slowing up through the final 50 metres to ensure I didn't use up too much energy, I seemed to grow in confidence and control throughout. My next couple of reps followed the same pattern, with me going through 400m and 800m with splits of 1:11 and 2:22 respectively, and both the third and fourth rep saw me record finishing times of 2:56 once again, with a similar easing off in the final stretch.

Rep 4 saw me record a 2:58, followed by a 2:57 on rep 5. By this point I was starting to feel the strain and I decided to call it a day after the sixth repetition, I ended fairly strongly though with a 3:00 finishing effort. Finishing off with an average of 2:57, it is one of the strongest sessions I can remember doing on my own and I came away feeling enthused ahead of November's upcoming races. I just hope to get the rub of the green win the weather through the month now - no gales like this time last year please!

Wednesday was a slow, hour long recovery run.

On Thursday me and coach Rob did a 2 x 2 mile session, off a 5 minute jog recovery. We couldn't have run it more consistently, with mile splits of 5:05, 5:05, 5:05 and 5:05, without clicking into race mode, which is a good sign again.

Friday was an early morning easy run, as was Saturday.

On Sunday, I rounded off the week with a late autumn afternoon long run down the lanes and bypass (the clock change nearly caught me out!) and I was pleased to progress nicely through the run, reaching 14 miles at 6:09 average pace, before easing off into the last two miles to finish off with an average pace of 6:15 for the 16 miles in total.

Total mileage for the week: 74

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:40

Total mileage so far this month (October): 300

Total mileage so far 2016: 2820

Average miles per day 2016: 9.34

Parkrun takeover

This week started in the sun of Mallorca, and so Monday and Tuesday were both steady ten milers along the harbour and sea front off Palma. It makes such a change to have that wonderful climate and scenery to train in and amongst, I loved every moment and made the most of the time out in Spain before returning to face the British winter season.

Upon landing back in the UK, I managed to fit in another steady run after work on Wednesday, and my main session of the week - the only real 'effort' of the midweek, during an easier than normal training week to allow for recovery from Palma Half, came on Thursday. I did a 4 mile tempo session with Rob Affleck and was happy with how my legs reacted as they allowed me to run at a nice and even 5:15 pace throughout without really pushing too much. It is a positive sign that I have recovered well from the race and am in a good place ahead of my next bout of races next month.

Friday was a case of sneaking a quick 6 mile easy run after work before taking Moll to the illuminations that night.

On Saturday, Wesham took over the organisation of the Lytham Hall Park Run, as a way of showcasing the club to the local running community. It was a great little event and hopefully has helped to promote the club's main headline race, Wesham 10k, which takes place next month. I built the Park Run into my week's long run in an effort to do my bit to show my support for the team. 

Meeting up with Luke Minns at the crack of dawn, we did a gentle 35 minute warm up and the same length cool down, with the 5k acting as a nice little speed work session in the middle of a total 13 mile run. It was actually quite a good morning's workout as we ticked over at 5:25 pace through the 5k. It was great to have some company too, as having someone to talk to and bounce off really helps to pass the time.

On Sunday I finished off the week with a late 10 mile run after a busy day of gardening at the house, but I managed a solid 6:15 pace, so it made up for a slightly reduced distance from what I would usually try to do.

One last thing to note for the week is that I have put my name down on the entry list for my next marathon attempt, with entry submitted for next September's Berlin marathon. So now I have my next huge target to build towards - with the race now 48 weeks away, and the marathon training block due to begin in around 32 weeks time. It is obviously a long way off, but I now see the next 32 weeks as being 4 lots of 8 week training blocks in order to get myself in the best position possible by the start of that main block of training next summer.

The first of those blocks will see my aim to average 70 miles per week and attempt to lay down new 10k and 10 mile PB's before Christmas.

Total mileage for the week: 68

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:28

Total mileage so far this month (October): 226

Total mileage so far 2016: 2746

Average miles per day 2016: 9.31

Follow the sun!

What a brilliant weekend. The Palma marathon and running festival has become something of an annual mass getaway for a large part of the Team Wesham contingent, and despite numbers being down somewhat in comparison to previous years, this one proved to be another successful trip.

From start to (not quite yet!) finish, this whole experience has been superb once again, with fantastic weather, climate, company, food, drink and of course the running to enjoy as well. After success in the half marathon last time, the challenge this year was naturally to try my best to defend my title in that race. 

We will get back to that soon enough, but first a quick round up of the weeks training back home prior to flying out...

As usual on a big race week, I tailored the rest of the week in such a way in order to try and peak for the race. This meant reducing both my overall mileage and the intensity of my sessions and gradually easing off throughout the course of the week.

I had it in my head that I probably wouldn't do my usual track/speed session on the Tuesday evening, and so instead of my normal steady 10-12 miles on a Monday, I opted to do the Club's winter handicap event instead, as a way of building in a bit of speed work with 4 miles at around about half marathon pace, with an extended warm up and cool down giving me 11 miles in total.

Tuesday saw me double up with a gentle 4 and a half miles before work, and then an improvised grass session in the evening, with 8 x 500 metres in the local park, off a 60 second recovery. I was pleased with this little session, as I managed to hit 5:05 pace off a short recovery without over stretching myself too much.

Wednesday was a short and steady run, followed by a reduced tempo run around Preston Docks on Thursday with Rob Affleck. We did 4 miles at roughly my intended half marathon pace, as we began at 5:34, before building up with a 5:24, 5:17 and 5:17 again. I felt at ease throughout the session and we were chatting comfortably throughout. It certainly didn't feel like we were particularly pushing ourselves, and by the end of the run I was confident that I was in ideal condition ahead of the weekend's race.

Friday saw me up at 2:30am ready for an early morning 3am drive to be airport with my room mate George Kennedy (I never realised how ripped he was), ahead of our 10 past 6 flight. So Friday was down as a day off as the fun and games began...

Our arrival at our hotel wasn't exactly what you would call a smooth one, with a bit of messing about before we eventually managed to sort out the arrangements for our room. It's fair to say I don't think mine and George's first impressions of the management were quite what we would have hoped!

We are staying in the resort of Ca'n Pastilla, about 5 miles outside of Palma City. It is a great area, a nice complex, with superb access to local cycling lanes which stretch the length of the coast - which have provided me with easy and plentiful running routes to keep my occupied and ticking over.

On Saturday morning, I took myself off along the cycle lanes and ran 5k out and then back again to give myself a nice gentle loosener and get my legs feeling ready for race day. The rest of the day was then spent lounging around in the sun conserving energy - that's my excuse anyway!

Sunday was race day. Luckily the hotel we have been stopping in were very understanding and helpful in allowing everybody to have an early breakfast before we travelled to Palma for the race. We arrived about an hour early, allowing plenty of time for a good warm up, stretch and change into race kit. Shortly before making my way to the front pen ahead of the start, I spotted a familiar face in Preston Harriers' Gary Pennington, which was good as it made sure I was switched on and expecting a tough race from the gun.

Palma puts on a marathon and a 10k as well as the half, with the half and full marathon setting off together at 9am and the 10k following later on at 9:40. As the gun sounded to signal the start of our race, myself and another lad soon found ourselves at the head of the race, and it wasn't until 3k in that we both looked across to each other and realised we were participating in different distances. The other lad was English too and participating in the full marathon - and I have to admit I was a bit shocked at the pace he had set off at, considering we went through the first few miles at circa 5:15 pace! 

It was good to have company though and someone to share the workload with, and we continued to plug away at a fair pace, with the time on the lead cars clock reading 32:57 as we passed through 10km. I was bang on pace for my ideal target, and as the race went on I continued to feel strong, at around 10-12k I began to move clear of the other guy and even through 10 miles I was continuing to feel strong and was in a nice steady rhythm - I started to believe that the sub 70 could actually be on at that stage. 

Looking at my splits, it certainly was too at that stage, and I was hanging on with the necessary pace as the course weaved up and in and out and through the cobbled streets of the old town end of Palma through to mile 11, and then through the 18km mark. I knew I was now just 3km from the finish and had around 9 and a half minutes to complete it in if I was going to manage sub 70. 

Unfortunately, try as I might, my legs just couldn't keep up the rate through the last few kilometres and I faded away. It was disappointing, but considering the heat and the difficulties of a quite complex second half of the course, possibly not all that surprising in the end. I came out with 71:05 (Gun time - although some discrepancies as my chip time is quicker at 70:52 and I didnt stop my watch!) and won the race for the second year in succession. The PB can wait for another day, and I certainly wouldn't have swapped the experience and fun of this whole weekend. 

The setting is beautiful and up there with some of the best sights you can wish for at any race, with the Cathedral on the start and finish and the billion dollar super yachts in the harbour, and the unique winding roads of the old town, it really is amazing.

Sunday afternoon, evening and night was brilliant, with everyone able to relax and chill out properly with a few (!) drinks and celebrate everyone's achievements in the half marathon and 10k races - everybody involved in this great weekend did team Wesham proud on the road once again. I don't think George was massively impressed with my Pina Colada though 😂

From the first minute, right the way through, I have honestly had an amazing time with a great bunch of people having a laugh at every available moment. Thanks to you all - Too many names to mention!

The Team! From left to right: Nigel Shepherd, Stephen Brown, Rob Danson, Snr Rob (Dad!), Kerry Eccles, Tracy Hulme, Nicola Unsworth, Helen Lawrenson.

It was great to see mum and dad having a great time too - I think she liked her flowers!

The memories that I will take from this weekend will stay with me forever, and I wouldn't swap that for the world. I would like to thank each and everyone of team Wesham involved in making this event as successful a time as it is every year, because it is a brilliant experience. It has been fantastic from start to finish, and the only thing that could top it off for me now would be to get to share the experience with Moll. If I could give anyone that has not had chance, or given it a go yet, one piece of advice it would be this - don't hesitate to follow the sun. Give it a go in 2017! 

Total mileage for the week: 64

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:29

Total mileage so far this month (October): 158

Total mileage so far 2016: 2678

Average miles per day 2016: 9.30

Getting stuck in

After a couple of races in the last few weeks, this week was back to the hard work behind the scenes with training and continuing to work around the early stages of doing up the new house. This week saw me therefore once again setting the early alarms, with three midweek morning runs, in addition to early efforts for my longer runs on both the Saturday and Sunday morning this week.

I did one main speed session this week, on Wednesday night, with my first visit to the track in a while, having been doing recent sessions on grass with the Harriers group. This time, the session was 6 x 600 and the return to short, fast bursts was a bit of a shock to the system and I found myself having to dig in and hang on towards the end of the session.

On Thursday, I didn't do quite the same in terms of tempo running as normal as I was worried I might still be feeling the effects of the previous evening. Therefore I did more of a progressive session, starting at 6 and a half minute mileing and working my way down to 5:19 pace over my 9 mile run. 

On Saturday I got up early and had my 16 mile long run out of the way by 9am so that I was able to get cracking on the back garden at home - I get the feeling I might have to get used to this sort of thing now! I managed to get down to a very pleasing 6:07 average pace and felt comfortable throughout.

Finally, Sunday saw me do a further 10 miles at 6:03 pace to take me to just over the 70 mile mark for the week and leave me feeling in a good place physically and mentally ahead of an attempt to defend my Palma Half Marathon title next weekend.

Total mileage for the week: 72

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:23

Total mileage so far this month (October): 94

Total mileage so far 2016: 2614

Average miles per day 2016: 9.30

Learning to juggle

This past week has seen the start of an exciting new chapter in my life - the biggest and best one yet but also by far the most challenging task that I will have taken on. Last Monday, myself and Moll received our keys for our first home, it is a dream that I have obviously had for a long time, but making it happen with the girl of my dreams is an unbelievably proud moment for me. The next few months (and some) will prove to be extremely challenging however, as we strive to turn this building into our perfect first home together. It is a house that has enormous potential, but there is a lot of work to do before we can realise that potential at this stage.

As such, there will be something of a juggling act to be performed in order to ensure that we keep moving in the right direction and plotting on with the building work and home-making, whilst continuing to grow on the day-to-day work front and build a name for myself in my own right in my trade, and also of course trying to make sure I carry on improving and developing into the runner that I strive to be. It is so important to me that I get the balance right and manage to keep on top of all three - and making time for socialising and spending time with Moll of course too(!)

It is going to be a busy and hectic period for us in the next few months, but I am determined that my running will not suffer due to it. It will be easier to say than do of course, and this first week has left me in no doubt as to the size of the task at hand. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for one reason or another saw me unable to run in the evenings, and so I had to instead set an extra early alarm and get myself back in the routine of an early morning run before work. 

Four times this week I managed to drag myself out of bed at 5:30am and jog through a 4.25 mile route and top up the weeks mileage by 17 miles. This meant that I was able to record a respectable 61 mile week, as opposed to the 44 miles I would have completed without the morning miles. Hopefully the longer time goes on, the easier it will get and the less I will have to rely on these kind of miles, but in the meantime I am going to continue with them and see how we go.

On Monday evening I missed my club night due to picking up our keys and inspecting our new home, Wednesday was spent starting to shuttle a few bits and pieces across and cleaning etc, and Friday I was Moll's plus one at a wedding of one of her friends and we both definitely deserved a night off and a few drinks to celebrate!

So my evening sessions mid-week were just Tuesday and Thursday, and unfortunately a late finish meant I missed out on my usual Tuesday speed session, so instead I did a ten mile progression run at 6:15 pace, and I did a similar 11 mile session on Thursday, but hit it a bit harder and managed to get myself down to an average of 5:56 pace. 

Due to needing to get cracking on the house I missed the first meet of the Crosscountry season at Chorley and instead I did an early morning 9.5 mile steady run before spending the day stripping wallpaper, and demolishing wardrobes with Moll!

Instead of the crosscountry, I ended up running the Stanley Park 5 mile race on Sunday morning along with my dad, as one of the Wesham club championship races. I never really pushed myself too hard as I won comfortably enough by some 4 minutes and ticked over at 5:18 pace as I tried to keep it consistent and controlled throughout. It was a much different performance to Run Preston last week, when I tried to hammer it from the start, as I looked to simply get a workout out of this race and tick over as I had missed some important speed work through the week. I was satisfied with my run and finished in 26:27 and know I had quite a bit in the tank saved for another day. 

I did a longer than normal warm up and cool down to add the run up to a decent long one to finish off the week, before heading off to continue the juggling act with work on the new home afterwards of course...

A final little thing to add this week - a good little video blog for you all to keep an eye out for and to please give a watch for me, it is a new project by a friend of mine Tom Marper, he is a track lad and so his focus is all about the speed work. It will be good to follow his progress under his new coach as he moves to start a new challenge at Liverpool University. Also, as his focus will be on the shorter stuff and speed work, I think it is something different to what this blog offers, and so could be a useful tool for anyone that reads this that is looking for ways of developing their top end speed. Give it a try, he's a good lad and a very fast one too!

The link is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXs5Cx3Sgro

Total mileage for the week: 61

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24     

Total mileage for month of September: 283

Total mileage so far this month (October): 22

Total mileage so far 2016: 2542

Average miles per day 2016: 9.28

Total Wipeout

Following four weeks of consistent training, this weekend saw my return to the race scene at Run Preston 10k. It is a challenging course, with plenty of undulations and a couple of big hills to contend with, but it is a race that has been kind to me over the years and I always seem to perform fairly well there. 

Having ran a pb time there last year a matter of hours after setting a 5k pb the night previous, last year, I decided to really focus on this race this time around in order to really see what I was capable of on  the course.

Due to a clash of events with the northern 6 stage road relays, the front end of the Run Preston field was understandably affected, and as such there wasn't much to really push myself against as we set off, instead I had it in my head that I would have to run it as almost a time trial against myself if I was going to nail a good time. And run it like a time trial I did - as I set off at pretty much 5k pace, making the most of the downhill sections early on in the race and settling nicely into a fast rhythm. 

I arrived at 2 miles at 4:55 pace, and was absolutely flying. I had probably set off a little bit too quickly, but I was concious of the fact that the second half of the course was much tougher and had plenty of uphill sections, so I wanted to be 'ahead of the rate' and with a bit of time to play with when the going got tough later on. What I hadn't factored in for was what I was about to be faced with just half a mile later, as the course dipped through a section of puddles and across to the river side, for a section of uneven terrain. I was still going strong at 2.5 miles and sub 5 minute mileing when disaster struck...

Coming around a bend and through a gate, ahead of us was two dog walkers with their 3 dogs in tow. The dogs were let loose, and I heard Shane Cliffe on lead bike asking them to put their animals on leads as runners were coming through. The response from the male owner was "its ok he won't get them". Famous last words. 

As I came around the bend, the dog charged across me and wiped both legs away from underneath me as it came across. I had no time to react and by the time I came to realise what had happened I was face down in a puddle of mud, with cuts and grazes to my hands, elbows, hips, thighs and hips. I couldn't believe it. 

Looking through my splits on my tomtom app, it looks as though my time on the ground cost me approximately 7 seconds.

At that point, you are faced with a split second decision, to either dust yourself down and crack on, or chuck in the towel. I was well ahead of second place, and despite my injuries was confident I could maintain my advantage. So I cracked on. In fairness to Shane, he was brilliant with me and calmed me down as I was all set to head charging off like a nutter in the aftermath and had turned he air blue with a tirade against the dog walkers (sorry to anyone that heard that!!) Shane got me to get my head together and refocus on the race. A look at my watch (I hadn't until that point) told me that I was on 5:06 average pace, and still on target for a potential pb.

I slowed through the fourth mile and Shane helped me get through that difficult patch by talking me through and giving me a target to chase. Mile 5 was back up towards where I needed to be, but I knew by this point that the damage to the time had already been done. A little wrong turn coming into the final mile out of Avenham Park didn't help matters, but I wasn't too bothered by that stage! I slowed through the finishing straight and enjoyed my moment, as I crossed the line in around 32:26 to win by some three minutes from the next runner. All things considered I am really pleased with the time I managed to post and the performance I maintained in some adversity.

Well done to all of team Wesham that came out and ran at one of the best local events on the road racing calendar. Both my mum and dad had good runs in the 5 and 10k races respectively, and well done too to Graham Vickers, Paul Carter and Stuart Topping on his comeback to racing after a lengthy battle with injury this year. Great going guys!

This week's training had gone relatively well, with a fast paced run on the Monday at the club as I managed to string together 7 miles at sub 6 minute pace after a slower 4 miles on my own before the club meeting.

Tuesday was another great session with the Preston Harriers youngsters on the grass, with 4 sets of 3x2 minute reps off a 30 second recovery. I have thoroughly enjoyed these sessions as something different from the usual track work over the last month - especially with so many pacy runners to train alongside.

Wednesday was a short recovery run, Thursday was a progression run of 10 miles, and I gradually worked my pace down to below 6 minute mileing for an average pace of 6:10 for the whole run.

Friday and Saturday were both steady 45 minute runs as I rested up for Sunday's race.

Total mileage for the week: 64

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:40

Total mileage so far this month (September): 244

Total mileage so far 2016: 2481

Average miles per day 2016: 9.29