Running like an idiot

Part of the process of trying to become a better runner has been more than just getting quicker and stronger. It includes learning to run more intelligently and how to structure a race.

Last night at Catforth 5k, I had a race plan in mind, but failed to stick to it. I wanted a 5k PB last night, and although I know you can't do it in every race, last night I should have done. Catforth is one of the flattest 5k courses in the area, and the conditions were just about perfect. It was dry, not too hot, and only a gentle breeze. For my part, I am in good condition and training well. I knew it was on as long as I ran sensibly.

My PB is 15:24, which breaks down to around 4:58 per mile - so to break that would require me to run 3 miles at 4:57 pace or less. However, I also managed to let myself get roped into a bet with club mate George's Kennedy that I couldn't break 15 minutes (which I know is probably a bit beyond me right now, but I feel confident that I am capable of running a low 15 in the right conditions). Furthermore, race organiser Alan Taylor was keen on me trying to break the course record, which is held by Stuart Robinson (15:30), so there was quite a bit of pressure on me to run fast!

Turning up, I knew that there wasn't likely to be much in the means of company and competition to push me around in that sort of time, so much of the race was going to be run alone (this is becoming a bit of a theme in these race blogs at the minute isn't it...) This made it even more important that I stuck to the race plan and ran smart.

I had aimed to run the first two miles at approximately 4:55 pace, and try to get through the 2 mile mark in under 9:50 to leave myself in with a shout of these fast times if I could then throw down a big last mile. My quickest 'in race' mile so far recorded is 4:40, so if I could repeat that it would give us the sub 15 I aspire to achieve.

Unfortunately, the plan went completely out of the window inside the first mile. I failed to reign myself in and set off way too quickly. I didn't check my watch until it bleeped to tell me I was through the first mile mark, and a quick look told me that I had done exactly what I had intended not to - 4:46, some ten seconds too fast. It might not have been such a disaster if I had of had people around me to push me on, but as it transpired the extra energy that I put into that mile sapped out of me as the race went on...

Mile two was much steadier, but the damage was already done. If anything I became too cautious in this second mile, relaxing a tad too much. A 5:04 mile meant that I had achieved my goal of getting to two miles in 9:50, but I knew that I was already slowing and wasn't going to have that energy for the 'big last mile' I spoke about earlier in the piece.

I am surprised at just how much damage that first mile did for the rest of the race in a way - the wheels came off in the final mile a bit, 5:11 leaving me to finish in 15:34, four seconds outside of the course record. It is still a solid performance, but God I was mad at myself afterwards. All I could think about on my cool down was how I had blown an opportunity. There will be others - with the next Catforth race just a month away, and plenty more around. But last night was a genuine chance to run a really great time.

The pace seemed to have a knock on effect with everyone else too, speaking to Joe Monk (who ran a great PB of 16:15) he said his first mile was much quicker than intended, as he tried to keep me in sights, and looking through Facebook it is the same story - Helen Lawrenson and Kerry Eccles further down the field both speak of a first mile that was too fast. So sorry guys if it was because of the pace set at the front!

Finishing on a positive - that is now 5 race wins on the bounce, a new best run of form for me.

Next up? Preston leg of the interclub series in 10 days time.

Edinburgh Marathon Festival

I have a few friends who are attacking the Edinburgh Marathon / Half Marathon tomorrow, and just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone competing and running all the best of luck.

There are a good few doing it from Team Wesham, and we are immensely proud of everyone of you, go out and wear the vest with pride, enjoy yourselves and give it your all.

The Edinburgh Marathon Festival is a fantastic weekend, and one which I have been fortunate enough to have experienced myself in the past. Back in 2013, when club Chairman of the time,  Graham Vickers, unfortunately broke his foot and had to give up his number for the marathon.

I took it on, seen as I was already in training for Manchester, which was about 6 weeks before. I picked up a hamstring injury at Manchester though and ended up struggling for form as Edinburgh came around, so decided to just try and enjoy the course.

All I can say is what a wonderful place Edinburgh is. Prior to that weekend I had never been to Scotland in my life - but this experience left me eager to see more! So much so that I ended up returning the following February for a short (run free) break with Molly.

The race itself was ran on yes a very flat, but also sparsely supported (in places) course, and I personally wasn't overly keen on the out and back countryside loop, that saw you run into seemingly no-mans-land for a good few miles between approx. 14-19 miles, but other than that the rest of the race was fantastic.

Starting close to the City centre, and finishing at the race track, both the start and finish were well supported, and some of the scenery as you ran along the coast was unbelievable. I managed to get around in 2:59:36 for 107th place.

I learned a few valuable lessons from my visit, firstly make sure that you have booked your hotel properly (I ended up roomless and begging for a place at a hostel on the Saturday night!) and also to try and do as little as possible in the 24 hour run up to the race (I travelled up and even went to the gym the day before! Rookie errors...) I was also especially grateful of Graham and Louise who took such good care of me in the aftermath of the race, when I couldn't even pick myself up off the floor!

I would love to return for another go one day, we shall see...

But final message for everyone taking part: as long as you have trained hard, ate well and are focused, I am sure you will all smash it. Above all enjoy it. Have fun guys x

Family

It's not all about the big races and the fast times.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to go out and push yourself around to a PB every single outing, but let's face it - sometimes that just isn't possible.

Today was one such day.

Having races on the track in the 5000 metres at the Lancashire Championships some 18 hours earlier, I chose to do the Great Eccleston 4 mile road race today more as a means to encourage my dad to run himself.

He has taken up the sport as a means to get fit and as a form of hobby over the last 15 months, and has done a few 5k races in the past, so today he managed to do his first 4 miler, and performed well - it was good to see him going strong and looking like he was enjoying himself too towards the finish.

Myself, I managed to win the race, seeing off Jason Parker of Preston Harriers, who finished second. The pace wasn't the quickest - but then again on heavy legs and into yet another head-wind, that was never going to be likely anyway.

The reason I like to support these smaller races so much, is the sense of community, family and friendship that you get from them. I am proud to be a runner, and proud of my club, and all the other runners that go out there and give it their best every week - and proud of the sportsmanship and support that we all offer each other. You wouldn't get other clubs encouraging each other in most sports!

So, 4 wins in ten days, and as many team wins too!

A good bank holiday all in all :)

GOLD!

Continuing on from where I left off last weekend, today I followed up my interclub and Worden Park successes with a victory in the Lancashire Championships 5000 metres, at Stanley Park, Blackpool.

Now, I would not consider myself a proper track runner, far from it - this was actually only my second ever race performance on a track. My first came exactly 12 months ago when I claimed silver in 16:00.

I do train on the track once a week, at UCLAN sports arena, in Cottam. But the prospect of racing on the surface and in that environment has never really appealed to me for whatever reason.

Perhaps it is the conception that you have to be rapidly quick to enter track races, and the fear of not being quick enough? Also, with training for Spring marathons over the last 3 years, it has always clashed with the short track season, meaning I miss out. I don't know, but for some reason it is something that has just never materialised properly.

Anyway, encouraged by Team Chairman, Lee Barlow, Wesham has managed to turn out in force at this particular event in the last two years. For the second campaign in a row we took home the team prize and Gold medals -Well done all on team Wesham!

Myself, Lee, club stalwart Alex Rowe and team captain Garry Barnett wore the club colours out there today and all did the vest proud.

Individually, I took the win, and Gold medal - meaning I am Lancashire men's 5000 metres champion for the next 12 months!

Ok, so many of the top runners weren't there - but what's the saying? "you've got to be in it to win it"? I have no doubts that I would have gone quicker if I had someone to battle it out against, but I feel like I put in a solid performance in the circumstance.

It's a shame that there wasn't a few more quicker guys out there, as I feel I would have really benefited from that. But I am confident that when I go out and race at a more 'loaded' race in the future, that these experiences will stand me in good stead and I will be able to take advantage of being in company then.

Running fast, and pushing yourself physically can be difficult anyway, but trying to do it out on your own can be really tough, finding the motivation to find that extra couple of percent to boost your performance. I set off looking to run15:30 pace (5 minutes per mile), and ended up with 15:39 after fading in the latter part of the race.

It was a lovely sunny day, and despite being clear out front I still had plenty of targets to sight - as I found myself setting a little personal challenge to lap the rest of the field (which I managed - sorry!!) and that helped me to keep going all the way in to the finish.

A great day, fantastic result, and a couple more medals for the cabinet. A good start for a summer on the shorter stuff!

First 10k of the year

I can't believe we have made it to the middle of May and prior to today I hadn't raced a single 10k all year!

Ribble Valley was my last outing over the distance back in late December. Although I had meant to have been doing various races before now, for one reason or another it just never happened.

Today I started to put that right. A combination of wanting to get out of Moll's hair whilst she revised for Monday's exam, feeling fresh after Thursday's interclub and the fact that the race had been added to Wesham's club championship, saw me venture off to Leyland to do the Worden Park 10k.

I last did this race back in 2013, when I finished second place in 35:34. It isn't the easiest of courses, is undulating throughout, with quite a tough hill at the end of each of the two laps. Unfortunately the wind hadn't dropped any from Thursday either, so conditions didn't exactly help for fast times.

There was some good competition on the start line today, so I knew that I would have to be switched on and "on it" from the off, with Matt Thompson (who I am still to beat at crosscountry!) club mate James Mulvany and young Joe Monk all very good standard runners.

Joe ran practically the same time today as I did two years ago, it is obvious that he is going to be a high class athlete in a couple of years time. If I had any advice for him, it would just be to stay patient and keep working hard - I remember what it was like to be the youngest at races and trying to close that gap to be winning races. He will do it sooner or later, but hopefully when he does I will have continued to develop myself and can keep up with him!

As we set off on a downhill start, it was actually Joe that was really the only one to pull away with me in the early stages, I think I dropped him after about a quarter of a mile, and from then on in I was on my own. It was just like a re-run of Thursday's interclub all over again, with the knowledge that as long as I didn't do anything daft, the race was already in the bag - but despite the conditions and nature of the course, I really fancied a crack at my PB.

To get that PB would require me to run an average of 5:15 per mile, and my first mile got off to a good start, posting 5:09. The second mile of the course levelled out from the downhill start and then began to add a few gradual inclines and undulations, a check of my watch saw that I had slipped to 5:20 for the mile. The third mile was mainly uphill, and with a tough kick towards the end of the lap. I managed to maintain the same 5:20 pace from the previous mile by digging in a bit more.

So at halfway I found myself about 5 seconds shy of PB pace, but still within touching distance. Mile 4 was a repeat of the first mile of course, and I clocked the exact same time for it as first time around (5:09), meaning that for the first time since the early stages of the race, I was back in the realms of a PB time.

I knew that mile 5 would be tough, as the mental aspect began to get harder, knowing that the race was well won already, I admit that running into that head wind it was tempting to relax a little. I resisted though and pushed on - and ran 5:23 for the mile. I was slightly disappointed to be back behind the required rate, but knew I was still in with a slim chance if I could summon up a big finish.

Sadly, the second time around the big final climb did for me, I chucked everything in to that sixth mile, but clocking 5:24 I knew the game was up.

I did however, still have a shot at the course record (32:47), and I gave it my all in the last stretch into the finishing line. I came up just short again however, finishing in a time of 32:49.

All things considered though, I am delighted with both my performance and application to the race, and it gives me huge confidence moving on to more 10k's through the rest of the year. I will run quicker, but today will have benefited me massively I reckon.

To top it off, Wesham claimed another men's team prize, to round up a fantastic week for the club again!

On we march #teamwesham!!

Getting the job done.

Tonight saw the second Interclub fixture of the 2015 season.

It was the turn of Lytham Road Runners to play host, and so that meant a 5 mile race. The course, as usual, taking in the promenade and Fairhaven Lake in St Anne's.

In the build up to this race, I didn't really know what to expect, but had hoped to keep myself in with a shout of the individual title having won the first fixture at Blackpool last month. However, little over two weeks recovery from the marathon meant that this was far from a by-gone conclusion.

My chances were aided though by the decision of many of the top Preston Harriers runners not to partake in the race. The men's Masters Relays is this coming weekend, so the chance of a medal meant that Rob Affleck, Gethin Butler, Gary Pennington, Jason Parker and a couple of others took the decision to rest up instead.

Furthermore, with track races over the weekend to focus on Dave Rigby and Chris Tulley also opted out and instead did a training run along the front.

So, on the start line I knew that I would have a good chance of building on my opening win, and was probably favourite to make it two in two. But that doesn't mean it was a foregone conclusion, I still had to go out and put in a shift and good performance to be sure of the point and to help lead the team to hopefully a good finish too.

As we set off, I quickly moved to the front and decided to attack the race fairly hard from the off, in order to try and set my marker and see who would break away with me from the rest. It soon became apparent though that I was in fact opening up a rather big gap behind already.

I clocked a decent 5:06 for the first mile and was told just before the mile marker by Sue Samme that I had a "50 metre lead", I tried not to take my foot off the gas and ploughed on in mile 2. This one was all in to a big wind though and naturally my time was effected by the conditions as a result - therefore I am rather pleased with 5:20 for the second mile, as I moved further away from those chasing behind.

Chris and Dave had run past me in the other direction and urged me to relax a little as I was well clear, but in my mind I still wanted to have a go at running a good time, even if I was running alone.

At the half way point of the race, you come around the lake and return to the main road heading back in the direction of the promenade from which you first set off. At this stage I allowed myself a little look over my shoulder to see just how much of a gap I had, and was delighted to see my Wesham team mate Karl Lee in second place!

The third mile had seen the pace drop as possibly I had slackened off a bit, and as a result I went through the mile in 5:26, at this point the PB looking out of reach.

With the wind behind me on the way back though, I managed to find a few seconds again in mile 4, clocking 5:14, and again being urged by Tulley to relax and conserve energy with the race won. The truth is though, that I genuinely didn't feel as though I was pushing it - I definitely had some in the tank - which is good because I want to race again this weekend!

I enjoyed myself in the final mile, and knowing that the sub 26' wasn't going to be on, I had a bit of fun and enjoyed the moment instead, playing up to the camera for David Wood and waving to my mum and dad in the home straight. It felt good to claim the win - even if some of the bigger hitters were absent.

Despite all this, looking back at my time, I finished in 26:19 - or 5:16 pace on average, which means if I had maintained what felt like a comfortable pace for another 1.2 miles I would actually have equalled my quickest time for 10k!

So that makes it two in two for the season, and 3 back to back interclub wins if we include last years result - something to motivate me and look to build on at Preston in a few weeks time.

Also, Karl held out for second place - his best interclub placing, and I think - although not yet confirmed - Wesham even claimed the team victory on the night!

A fantastic night for team Wesham!!

Striving for consistent mileage

After more or less a full week off following the London marathon (not quite zero miles, as I did go for a 7 mile stretch of my legs the Saturday after), this week was about finishing my recovery and starting to get underway with my next training wave.

Perhaps aided by the bank holiday (I managed to fit in an extra run on Monday) I actually completed 65 miles for the week - the same amount that I averaged throughout the peak of my marathon training.

To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how this week would go - I started the week still a bit leggy from the effects of London, but by mid-week I felt fully recovered and so have pressed on with training as normal.

Taking advantage of the bank holiday Monday, I decided to start the week off by doing Avenham Park 5k, although I knew I wouldn't be able to perform at 100% just a week after a marathon, I took the decision that the race would be beneficial to try and blow some of the lactic out of my legs. A 3 mile warm up, and a slow 3 mile cool down, took me to 9 miles for the morning.

In the evening, I then headed to the running club, and offered my services as a marshal for the club handicap, but ran to the marshalling point and topped up my mileage with another 4 miles.

Deciding to wait another week before my return to the usual Tuesday track session, instead I just went out for a steady one hour run this Tuesday, managing to tick off another 9 miles, though the legs still felt a little sore from the previous mornings race.

Wednesday was put aside for a day off, but I ticked over with a nice 2 mile jog with Molly around Moor Park - she did well, and I hope I didn't do her head in too much!

Thursday saw me go for an 8 mile progressive tempo run with Mr Affleck and Mr Butler, averaging 5:53 pace, with a mile and a half cool down taking it to 9.5 miles for the day. The tempo run was actually completed slightly quicker than our final 'hard' session prior to the marathon - and felt easier too, so hopefully those are good signs for the future!

On Friday, I took the decision to run home from work in St Anne's, although I nearly bottled it when I saw how atrocious the weather was when I prepared to set off. It was absolutely launching it down all the way home! But I got through it and logged another 10.5 steady miles. Once I got going I actually enjoyed the run, in spite of the weather - and luckily my phone didn't get too water damaged either...

I worked on Saturday morning, so rather than going for my usual long run, in the afternoon I went on a shorter session run. I did a one mile warm up, 4 mile tempo (at 5:39 average pace) and two mile cool down. In much warmer conditions, this was a tough little session, but a good one to get out of the way.

To complete the week I ended up doing a 15 miler this afternoon. I hadn't intended to do a long run this week, instead I was planning on doing 10-12 and then picking up the longer stuff again next weekend, but I felt strong and decided to take advantage of the fact. This topped my weekly mileage up to 65 and completed a very satisfying weeks work.

If you had said to me this time last year that a 65 mile week would be 'standard' for me, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I used to feel tired off 50 miles and didn't have a clue how I was going to cope with the extra workload, but by increasing it gradually I have managed to reach a point where this is now a normal weeks work for me.

I know some runners do 90-100 miles a week (plus), but I don't think I will ever be in the position to put that amount of sheer mileage in. With the nature of my work and lifestyle it can be hard to squeeze in too many extra miles, but if I carry on doing it slowly and gradually, and manage to tweak a few things here and there, maybe this time next year I will be putting in 70-75 miles a week regularly, rather than just on 'high mileage' weeks. We will see!