Airshows and Olympics

Following on from my first week of training since my summer break, this week I continued my push back to full fitness and sharpness with another tough spell of training, topped off with a blustery race along Blackpool prom for the Airshow 10k on Sunday.

Having been pleasantly surprised by the shape I was in at Podium 5k last Friday night, I decided to chuck in a 10k this weekend having heard that the great Andi Jones had signed up to run he race also. I had hoped that if we had got some favourable conditions I may have got pulled around in a good time - however the gusty weather along Blackpool's front meant that this was never in danger of being the case.

Rather than tucking in behind and merely trying to hang onto the back of Andi, I was determined to try and make an honest race out of it in the early stages and through the first quarter of the race we shared the workload and both pushed the pace. With the first mile being down wind, we soon ticked that off in 4:50, however after the turn down onto the concrete lower promenade we were hit by strong winds of 40-50mph and were sandblasted too all the way down the stretch towards the Pier at 4 miles. 

That meant we were running head first into the winds for a full 3 mile stretch, which gradually got the better of me. I managed to keep in touch with Andi until just before the half way point of the race, although he had begun to stretch out away from me from around the 4K mark. 

My splits into the headwinds were: mile 2 - 5:29, mile 3 - 5:43, mile 4 - 5:54. These splits show a couple of things, firstly how much the wind took out of me as I gradually slowed throughout this section to nearly as much as 6 minute mile-ing, but also secondly, how much easier it is when you have someone to work away with. As soon as Andi got a lead on me, I found it much tougher mentally to keep the push on. 

At 4 miles, the course saw us climb back up onto the higher promenade, back onto Tarmac and also turning back to have the wind in our sails once more. Unfortunately by this stage Andi was now long gone and I found myself running in on my own and again struggling a tad for motivation to push myself to hurt enough when it was clear that times were out of the window at this point. Mile 5 was quite undulating and I recorded 5:31, before a mainly downhill stretch through mile 6 at 5:19 pace. A quick look at my watch showed me that a final push would see me dip under 34 at least, and so I sprinted the .2 miles home at 4:50 pace to record a time of 33:52, some 63 seconds behind Andi Jones, but after all he is one of our nations best runners and has represented England and GB so I will take that!

Speaking of Team GB, Olympic fever has well and truly gripped me now, and the next couple of weeks it will dominate my life watching it all unfold - I might not find time for training! 😝

This week's training included a session of 6 x 1k, 2 x 400 and 2 x 200 on the track on Tuesday, and lots of steady running at around 6:30 pace through the week. Thursday saw me running an early 3 miles in the morning before work, as I had a rush on to get ready for Noel Gallagher at Lytham Festival after work, whilst Saturday's running was largely limited by resting up ahead of the race and also working in the morning, Sunday racing also meant no long run, so my mileage was restricted further.

Thanks Anne Mayers for the photo!

Total mileage for the week: 62

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:18

Total mileage this month (August): 62

Total mileage so far 2016: 1997

Average miles per day 2016: 9.16 

Holidays, Hisaronu's hills and hitting the roads again.

It's been a few weeks since my last blog update, so this week's will be a round up of everything that I have been up to in the last four weeks since I last wrote a piece on here. 

A fortnight's summer holiday has seen me take a little break from training in order to freshen up and allow the body to recover a little bit from all the strains of he first half of the year's running. It felt good to rest up and take it easy for a bit, but I am so happy to be back out and pounding the roads again once more now.

Week 1

The week leading up to my break, I tried my best to cram in as much training as possible, but seen as I was flying on the Saturday, it was a shortened week of training which saw me run each day from Monday to Friday before commencing on my week break Saturday to Saturday.

Due to it being a shortened week, the mileage was obviously affected. In order to try and counteract the negative aspect of this eventuality I decided to try and increase the intensity of each of my sessions and try running hard throughout every single training slot.

This week saw me complete a total of 44 miles - some two-thirds of my usual mileage that I have been recording through the summer season.

On the Monday I ran with David Taylor and Jason Barlow at the Wesham club training night - they pushed me to run at a decent pace and I managed a total of 7 miles with them at 6:14 pace, in addition to another 5 miles that I had done on my own earlier in the evening at 6:52 pace.

Tuesday was a track session which I completed on my own, with 9 x 800 metres at an average of 4:52 mpm pace.

Wednesday was a recovery run and I only managed 2 miles at 7:00 pace as I turned spectator, watching Moll running the Blackpool race for life. It wasn't a night that went to plan unfortunately as she ended up injured at around the 2k mark and we had to walk the remainder of the way! Fortunately she has since recovered from the subsequent cuts and bruises...

Thursday was a progressive tempo run with Affleck, running 8 miles of increasing levels of effort at an average of 5:44 pace, with a two mile cool down to complete.

As Friday was my last chance to burn off the remaining energy I had before the holiday I decided to chuck everything into a final 10 miler and got around my local route through the lanes at an average of 5:56 - not bad for a Friday night, the day following another hard session.

Saturday and Sunday were rest days.

Total mileage for the week: 44

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:27

Total mileage so far this month (July): 66

Total mileage so far 2016: 1820

Average miles per day 2016: 9.58

Week 2

In short, I didn't do much work!

Monday to Friday was pretty much complete rest - I didn't even do much swimming! Saturday and Sunday saw me complete my first tentative runs of the holiday, as I worked on a 5 mile route from the hotel, running 4.5 miles on the first attempt (6:50 pace) and 5 miles on the following morning (6:31 pace).

I found it hard going in the heat - even in the early morning, with temperatures hitting 25-27oC even at 7:15 in the morning! Not only that, but with humidity of in the region of 65-70% and being at a higher altitude to I'm used to back home, it was tough going, but the scenery was beautiful and I actually really enjoyed running in Turkey. I escaped into the forest most morning runs, and hit Hisaronu's hills, with the 5 miler seeing some 414 feet of elevation in just a short distance.

Anyway, since I didn't do much training this week, here is a picture of my most strenuous activity of the first week in Turkey - Camel riding with Moll! It was fun to try something new, and brilliant to get to spend quality time away from the stresses of every day life with Moll and the rest of my family who I love to bits.

Total mileage for the week: 9.5

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:36

Total mileage so far this month (July): 75.5

Total mileage so far 2016: 1829.5

Average miles per day 2016: 9.29

Week 3

The second week of my holiday saw me start to increase my morning efforts a little bit as I strived to try and ensure I kept ticking over and didn't lose too much fitness before I arrived home - especially with the amount I was eating and drinking whilst away!

I ran on Monday (5.0 miles), Wednesday (5.3 miles), Thursday (6.7 miles) and Friday (5.0 miles) and as well as the running I also swam a quarter of a mile each of those mornings in an attempt to bring my body temperature back down, whilst maintaining my increased heart rate a bit longer. This was an attempt to avoid the heat rash that I encountered last summer when trying to train in Malta.

Tuesday was a rest day for an excursion, while Saturday was also a rest day for travelling home.

On the Sunday I came crashing back down to earth with a bang as I went for a 16 mile long run with Affleck and I suffered badly! My average pace plummeted after mile 10 from a relatively healthy 6:25 pace to 6:38 by the end of it. Work to do to get back to where I was then...

Total mileage for the week: 38

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:30

Total mileage so far this month (July): 113.5

Total mileage so far 2016: 1867.5

Average miles per day 2016: 9.15

Week 4

No time to feel sorry for myself, I had to throw myself straight back into training, as I already had my eyes set on the perfect comeback race in order to see where exactly I am at ahead of the next round of training. Podium 5k was back this Friday and was advertising a stacked field and a race that would be streamed live on Facebook via Dave Norman's new brainchild "RunningLive" - if you get chance to check out the site, please do as it is a great idea and one that I really hope takes off. It is a great way to see how races unfold and what goes on around you, that you just cannot see or appreciate when you are running in the same race yourself. That, and it allows good publicity for the events themselves too.

So the first full week back was all geared towards trying to get onto that start line in some sort of shape, so that I didn't make a fool of myself by turning up completely unfit and rusty.

Monday saw me again run 4 miles on my own, before joining up with my club mates for a run at Wesham, doing a further 8 with Lee and Jason Barlow. I pushed myself to try and see what my legs would allow me to get down to and was surprised to hit sub 6 minute mile-ing fairly comfortably and peaked at 5:37 pace.

On Tuesday, an early finish at work allowed me the chance to get to the track early, so I had completed my session by the time anyone else had turned up! I managed 6 x 1000m off a 200m recovery. I never really pushed myself to my limit, but my average pace for the session was in and around 5:10 pace, so some way off my 5k pace, which was a slight concern, although as I say it was a solo session and without the adrenaline of a race day. That combined with it being my first session back made it a satisfactory effort.

Wednesday saw me tick over with 7 miles, with a further 6 coming on Thursday.

Friday was race night. The field that was assembled on the day wasn't quite as stacked as I had anticipated, which meant it would be a little bit more difficult to execute plan A - which was to try and get in a big group, tuck in and get carried around! Instead, plan B was simply to try and keep Ben Fish in sight for as long as possible. I knew that if I was in and around Ben, then I wouldn't be far off that elusive sub 15.

I managed to keep up for about 2.5k, before allowing a bit of a gap to open up. From there on in I got into a race for 4th place, which I narrowly missed out on in a final sprint. I finished 5th in 15:15, 8 seconds slower than my pb time, but considering the fact I am just back from holiday, I was absolutely delighted to record that time. It leaves me in good shape and a decent position ahead of my next phase of training. A few weeks of hard work and I will be better placed for another attack on that pb hopefully.

Saturday was a 8 mile recovery run, which was pleasantly not too painful actually.

Sunday was my long run day, and far different to the week previous, it actually went superbly. I ran a total of 18 miles at an average of 6:16 pace, my quickest long training run in a number of months. So perhaps the break has done me good, and a few more quality weeks of sessions could see me ready to hit some big races once again. Here's hoping!

Total mileage for the week: 67.5

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

Total mileage this month (July): 181

Total mileage so far 2016: 1935

Average miles per day 2016: 9.17

Photo credit David Belshaw

Witton Park Trail Relays

The Witton Park Trail Relays is an event that unfortunately I missed out on in 2015, as it fell on the day of my birthday and I was otherwise engaged (I don't think Moll would have been best pleased if I had have asked her to come along and watch me race instead of going out for a meal!). This year however, having heard lots about the success of the event from everyone involved the previous year, I made sure I left my diary clear to allow me to take part and see what it was all about for myself. 

If I'm being completely honest, I didn't really quite know what I had signed myself up for, having never taken part in any trail races previously. But I had figured that it couldn't be too dissimilar to crosscountry, and loving that event as I do I was pretty confident that I would enjoy the challenge. So much so that during the week, as other runners had been forced to drop out, I volunteered myself to run an extra leg for one of our other teams. At just over 2.35 miles each leg, how hard could it be?

On my first team, I would take the first leg before tagging on to James Mulvany on our second leg, with David Taylor bringing us home on the third and final leg. 

Arriving in plenty of time, I borrowed a pair of fell shoes off one of the other club members (I'm glad I didn't try running it in my road shoes!) and set about on a reccie of the course, with about half an hour to go before the race start. I'm glad I did, as it prepared me fully for what was ahead of me, the only problem being that a wrong turn meant that I ended up doing a longer 3 mile warm up and having to hurry up a bit on the last mile in order to get back to the start in time!

It was only once at the start that I realised just how many teams Wesham had entered into he competition, with some 16 of the 120 teams participating being Wesham blue! Being on leg one meant that my leg for the 'A' team was pretty much just a normal race, however as opposed to many races on the road, I didn't recognise many of the front runners, with the exception of Chris Singleton of Barlick. This meant I wasn't sure what to expect pace-wise or how the race would unfold. 

I decided that the best course of action was to try and grab the race by the scruff of the neck and run the first half of the race hard, in an attempt to get to the summit in first, with the idea being that it was all downhill from there...

...easier said than done! The first quarter of a mile is fairly flat, across field and up onto the trail path which began to wind its way through the woodland. I had successfully managed to get myself into the lead by the time we entered the woods and began the incline. The first half of the incline was fairly gradual, and aside from having to be aware of branches and roots and the uneven nature of the underfoot conditions, it was very much runnable.

This section of the race also saw you have to pass through two gates, but that was made simple as the marshals had opened them by the time the runners approached. At the top of the first section of the incline, we passed under a little tunnel and into the upper woodland area, where the hill began to get steadily steeper. A hundred yards or so after the tunnel, you had to take a sharp turn back almost upon yourself and straight up and onto the toughest climb of the course. It is difficult to know how far exactly this climb went on for, but according to my watch readings the total elevation on the whole run was 488ft and my first mile was down at 7:30 pace.

I managed to reach the summit just about in first place, but by this stage I was really blowing - I like hills, but this was more than I am used to! - and I didn't take the best approach to climbing over a tree stump that was led across the path near the top (I didn't notice the gap that was runnable between them!) and lost some time and momentum manoeuvring my legs over it.

Almost immediately as we reached the top, Chris Holdsworth of Clayton-le-moors Harriers - who went on to win the leg in the fastest time of the day, surged past me. I tried my hardest to keep him within range throughout the descent, as we plummeted back down the other side of the hill. In trying to keep myself in with a shout of first place I probably cost myself both energy and momentum as we came through the fields and into the final section of the race. I struggled with my foot placing as we negotiated a tricky section of a dozen or so wide steps, and at the bottom of those I was quickly passed by two Barlick Fell runners, despite finishing fairly quickly (my last 0.35 miles were recorded at 4:50 pace), I was unable to reign them back in and as such I found myself finishing the leg in fourth position.

I passed on to James Mulvany, who had an excellent leg and managed to gain the team a position as Wesham found themselves in and among the top three after leg 2, a position that David Taylor very nearly maintained as he was passed agonisingly on the finish line as we got pipped for a place on the podium and finished up in fourth place. It was an excellent showing and a great result for us, up against some of the top fell teams and teams much more used to this type of event and race. For Wesham to be up there competing with the likes of Clayton, Barlick and Blackburn on their own patch was fantastic. I loved being a part of a team in a relay environment again, having missed out on the 12 stage earlier on this season.

For my second leg, I learned from my first lap and took it a little easier up hill and had a bit more energy left for the down hill section. I decided not to bust too much of a gut second time around and to try and enjoy it, which I managed to - using those in front of me as motivation to keep on going throughout. I gained some 25-30 places for the team and recorded the 8th fastest leg of the night on my second attempt, despite being nearly a minute slower than my first lap.

Overall I loved the experience and would love to take part again next year - and this has shown me how good hill work is, I really need to find a big hill near me to practice on! My calves were in bits for a couple of days afterwards though, and knew that they had been in a real workout!

The rest of the week saw me do a steady 11.5 miles on Monday, a 2 x 2 mile tempo on the Tuesday (at 5:09 average pace) finished off with 4 x 200 metre strides at 30 seconds a piece. Wednesday I got out for an hour and ran 9 miles at a comfortable pace, Friday I went out early before work and plodded out 4 miles to try and get some of the lactic out of my legs from the previous evening. Saturday was a rest day and Sunday saw me do a long run at 6:15 pace for 17 miles with Rob Affleck, with a mile cool down giving us 18 miles in total.

Total mileage for the week: 62

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

Total mileage for June: 254

Total mileage so far this month (July): 22

Total mileage so far 2016: 1776

Average miles per day 2016: 9.70

Looking forwards

I have been fortunate to have hit a period of form over the last 4-6 weeks and have been running consistently and racing well, topped off by a solid showing at Freck Half last weekend.

Having come through a difficult spell during late March/April I am more than aware that form is of course a very temporary notion, and that soon enough it may be the case that my recent improvements plateau off once more. If that is he case then I will have to step up the training programme again and build towards the next target races.

In two weeks time I will be off on my summer holidays with Moll and the family for a fortnight of sun, I have banked on using the first week as a complete rest week from training, with some light running in the second week to try and see me ticking over and not losing too much fitness. I think the holiday is coming at a good time for me, to allow my body to recover from all the recent races and to allow me to freshen up ahead of what I hope will be a big second half of 2016.

So the next couple of weeks will see me trying to train hard and eek out every last ounce of energy to try and get myself in the best possible place ahead of the upcoming break.

I haven't completely set in stone my races for the second half of 2016 yet, but I have now begun to turn my attention towards these targets. It is likely that I will look for a September half, in order to give me something to really get my teeth into after my holiday and to have a target to strive towards. From there, I will look for a 10k to aim at - possibly Leeds Abbey Dash, despite not enjoying that particular race last season, or maybe Cheshire 10k if the current course measurement saga is resolved in time. Hopefully I will also finally get to have another crack at a 10 mile race, having last raced over that distance in 2014.

This week's training was hit by more chronic tooth pain, which saw me take a couple of days off from training and affecting my weeks work. I took Monday off after the half marathon and went out to watch the football, then Tuesday saw me racing again, with a comfortable win at the Thornton interclub, with a pleasing time of 26:23 for the 5 mile promenade loop, despite having also raced just some 48 hours previous. Wednesday saw me do a steady 7.5 mile recovery run, whilst Thursday was an enforced day of rest. Friday saw me do a swift 7 miles.

Saturday was my 26th birthday and I chose to celebrate by having a real crack at the Preston Park Run, before working in the afternoon (as you do). I knocked 14 seconds off my previous best display on the course and finished in 16:03, with my calves battered from a third hard run in 7 days.

I finished the week with a very wet 18 mile long run through the lanes at 6:20 pace. Due to the lack of mileage I tried to ensure every run through the week was a decent sort of pace.

Total mileage for the week: 49

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:12

Total mileage so far this month (June): 214

Total mileage so far 2016: 1714

Average miles per day 2016: 9.63

Mixed emotions

5 years to the day from my first effort (and first ever race) at Freckleton Half Marathon, today's attempt was my sixth time on the course. A far cry from the usual conditions at this race, this time around he weather was cool, wet and blustery in places. It represented a different type of challenge, but made for more favourable running conditions to the usual heat and humidity.

It was a day in which records were broken, titles changed hands and personal bests were set. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't quite able to do that, but I certainly wasn't far off. It made for a day of mixed emotions for myself, as I managed to seal a place on the podium here for the first time, on the day that my junior record was smashed to pieces 5 years to the day on from me setting it.

Back then I was an unattached bit of a kid with only a handful of 10 mile training runs to my name. I didn't have a clue about pacing, or even if I would finish it, but somehow got around in 1:24:32, breaking the old record by some 8 and a half minutes! 5 years on and a young lad from Blackburn Harriers tore that particular record to pieces - beating it by some 9 minutes! 

At the same time, I was able to set another little piece of history myself - and this one is one that can never be taken away from me, as I became the first Junior title holder to go on and take a place on the podium at the race.

In order to earn my top 3 position I had to beat some serious runners, as there was a quality front end assembled at the race once more. John Mason made his way over from Canada again, to try and de-throne Ben Fish, who was looking to win the race for the tenth consecutive year. My coach Rob Affleck was there too, with club mate Gary Pennington - on the back of his 2:29 marathon. 

But it was Dave Rigby of Salford Harriers who ran home as a convincing winner, beating the field by over a minute to claim the title.

The early stages of the race saw all of the front 6 in a tight pack through he first mile, as everyone sized each other up and race tactics cam into the equation. The group began to break up through the second and third mile, as Rigby and Mason pulled away from Fish, with myself a bit further behind, ahead of Affleck and Pennington.

At mile four, I continued to be running strong and managed to pass Ben Fish and set off trying to keep Rigby and Mason in sight, which I managed to do as we approached the green at Wrea Green around 5.5 miles. I received a lot of encouragement from the spectators around the green and also from Richard Davies and Chris Barnes on their bikes and it focused my mind on making sure the gap to the next runner didn't get too big to close up. By this point Dave Rigby had broke clear of John Mason and was now out in front on his own.

I didn't panic, and didn't make a move too soon, instead gradually chipping away at the gap between myself and Mason, eventually catching him up at around the 8.5 mile mark and then moving ahead of him and into second place at around 9 miles. Once I was in second, I was determined that nobody would pass me, and for a short while even had a small belief that I could reign in the leader and close that gap too. Unfortunately I began to slow up from around mile 10. 

In the last 5k, when I would have hoped for a strong finish, instead I tightened up a bit and my pace slowed up by approximately 10-15 seconds per mile. The weather deteriorated around this point too, which may have impacted on the times a bit. Still I managed to hang onto second position quite comfortably in the end, and just missed out on a new half marathon pb, finishing the race in 70:49.

My mile split times (bearing in mind I had targeted running at around 5:20 pace) were: 5:17, 5:07, 5:11, 5:15, 5:19, 5:23, 5:24, 5:26, 5:27, 5:29, 5:36, 5:33, 5:29 before running home the last 0.12 at 4:52 pace.

I am proud of my performance and would probably say that this is one of the best paced and tactically raced efforts that I have put together, particularly over this distance. It shows that my endurance is improving and that I am getting stronger. It also means that I am finally able to put the horror of Cardiff Half to bed at last.

Hopefully I will be able to continue to improve and kick on further from here after my holiday which is coming up soon!

Total mileage for the week: 55

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:30

Total mileage so far this month (June): 165

Total mileage so far 2016: 1665

Average miles per day 2016: 9.85

An almost perfect 10

It is almost 5 years ago since I first ran in a Wesham vest at an interclub race. I finished in 17th position and was very happy to come in so high up the field. That was the start of things for me, and I have been hooked on racing ever since. Back then, I couldn't have dreamed of winning one of the interclub races, let alone winning the individual title last season.

Yet, after years of hard work, here I am now, having just completed my tenth successive interclub that I have raced without defeat. The only blip on the record is that I had to miss the final race of last season due to my summer holiday, so the ten races aren't all consecutive. But still, it is a huge achievement for me, and I feel as though I am getting stronger with each race. I am working hard and am hoping to continue keeping the run going as long as possible, and looking to keep on improving as much as I can.

Thursday night provided me with the latest interclub fixture to get my teeth into, and with it being a 5 miler, as opposed to the others so far this season, which had both been 4 mile courses, it would put my endurance a bit more to the test, against Rob Affleck and Gary Pennington who both seem to be able to hold a pace on and on with ease.

Fortunately, it was a test that I passed with flying colours. Despite feeling extremely leggy and lacklustre in my warm ups, something seemed to click into place as soon as the starting orders were given. Without really putting any serious concious effort to pull away - I didn't feel as though the start was a particularly fast one - I quickly opened up a bit of space between myself and he rest of the field. Again, throughout the run I tried to hold a consistent pace, rather than putting any thought into upping it at any stage. 

I ran home in first place, and was staggered (particularly considering how I had felt before the race) to find that I had ran some 30 seconds faster than the previous year on the same course - and had finished in a pb time for the distance, breaking 26 minutes for the first occassion with a time of 25:49. The best thing about the performance was the ease at which I felt during the run. I felt as though I had an extra gear that I could have gone into had I needed it, a feeling that gives a lot of confidence ahead of Freckleton Half next weekend.

Perhaps, after the heavy mileage winter, the recent period of reduced mileage may have allowed my body to recover and feel fresher on a race day. Having said that, my current mileage is still equal to my marathon training from last spring!

It has been a long, but very worthwhile journey from my first full season of interclub a 4 years ago, to where I am at now. I am proud of how far I have come so far, and am determined to keep improving!

I am fortunate to have banked a consistent block of training without injuries over the last few months, and feel that this is the most important aspect of my training that has led to the upturn in form I am now experiencing. 

This week's training was once again pleasing for me. Monday provided me with a steady 9.5 miles at 6:45 pace. On Tuesday I headed to the track at Sports Arena, Cottam, but since there weren't many down there, I did a session of my own - putting together 5 x 5 miles, off two minutes recovery, at an average of 5:04 pace. Wednesday was an easy 5 at 6:55 pace, Thursday provided me with 12 miles in total, with Friday seeing the working week end with a 7 mile recovery run at 6:38 pace. Saturday was a day off, as I headed off to Parklife with Moll, before catching the tail end of the club day festivities and the football at Kirkham cricket club. I ended the week with a very enjoyable 17 mile long run with coach Affleck, with us starting gentle and building up the pace progressively throughout to finish up with an average pace of 6:22.

This week now is about ensuring I make it to the startline at Freckleton in the best possible shape ahead of the Half Marathon, and I have to admit this is the hard part for me now, as I always feel guilty when I taper back my training as it almost feels like cheating - I always feel as though I should be doing more!

Total mileage for the week: 61

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

Total mileage so far this month (June): 110

Total mileage so far 2016: 1610

Average miles per day 2016: 9.82

Heatwave

This last week has seen some of the hottest weather we have had in some time, and I sure felt it, particularly on today's long run.

Having been to watch Coldplay with Moll last night, we stopped over in Manchester and took advantage of being a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre to get some bits and pieces ahead of our holiday next month. That meant that my long run was delayed until late afternoon. 

I had hoped that having waited until half 4 to set off on my run, that I might be through the hottest of the weather. That seemed to be far from the case however, as the conditions became more and more humid and difficult to come with, eventually becoming unbearable and leaving me having to stop and walk my way home the last mile and a half, having stopped at 15 miles feeling dizzy and dehydrated.

I tend not to take water onboard on any of my training runs, choosing not to carry a bottle. Usually this doesn't prove to be a problem - today however I really struggled from 13 onwards and really should have taken some with me.

It does at least provide me with a good dummy run of the conditions that I am likely to be faced with at Freckleton Half Marathon in just two weeks time. The race continues to be run at mid afternoon on what is always one of the hottest days of the year.

On bank holiday Monday, I did a steady 8 miles in the evening, having been out for the day at Cartmel races with Moll, slightly less Han I do on a usual Monday. Having to work on a bit on Tuesday meant that I missed my track session, so substituted it for a 10k tempo run through the lanes at 5:34 pace, with a further 8 miles progressive tempo banked on Tursday with Rob Affleck, at 5:40 pace. Saturday saw me do another 8 miles, with the Preston Parkrun acting as an extra speed session in the middle of the session for me, with 16:44 for the 5k being exactly what I ran there last week too!

I love getting out into the lanes away from all the traffic and busy roads in the summer, but unfortunately there is one big drawback for me - I suffer quite badly from hayfever and in the months of June and July it always seems to peak over a six week period, leaving me with itchy eyes and a streaming nose. This last week it has been particularly bad and despite taking my medication it doesn't seem to have eased the symptoms much at all. If anyone has and remidies that works for them, please let me know!

A break from training for a brilliant night out watching Coldplay with Moll at the Etihad, Manchester.

Total mileage for the week: 67

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

Total mileage for May: 282

Total mileage so far this month (June): 49

Total mileage so far 2016: 1549

Average miles per day 2016: 9.92