Knee'sy does it...

Firstly, I apologise for my tardiness and lateness with the blog this week - but better late than never and all that...

Having had quite a month of racing in March, this last week was more about getting decent recovery in, whilst also cracking on with as much decent training as possible.

Unfortunately I found myself restricted somewhat by the same knee pain that had affected my training through much of the previous two weeks. I'm not really sure why - but I am definitely not complaining(!) - it didn't affect my races over this time, but I have definitely been feeling it in the training miles. 

On the back of last week's blog, I got quite a bit of good advice from lots of my running friends that have had similar problems in the past themselves. I took this onboard and made the decision to bite the bullet buy a pair of support trainers for my longer and easier mileage training runs. I tried using support shoes earlier on in the year, unsuccessfully, as they gave me pain in my Achilles and were perhaps a touch over-supportive. That time I had changed brands, so this time around I stuck to what I know and trust with Adidas, and although it is still early days, the Sequence ST is so far proving to be a success both in terms of comfort and cushioning as the knee pain has started to abate a bit at last.

I have also found that I am now feeling the pain more on solo runs, and particularly in the early stages of my training sessions, about 10-15 minutes in to my running I am getting some pain which then seems to subside as I get warm and into the run. So it is possible that now it is more of a mental issue, as I am conscious of having had the problem and am now more acutely aware of any twinges?

Anyway, I have managed to plod on and keep going with training more or less as normal again this week - except for Wednesday when I took the decision to take a day rest due to the pain I had encountered in my speed session the day previously.

I managed to record fairly good mileage this week, but the harder sessions were pretty up and down, more due to general tiredness and leggyness from Saturday's relays than anything else.

Monday was a steady run with the running club, although the pace was fairly brisk from the outset as I think we felt a bit of a spring in our steps to be able to escape down the lanes and away from that bypass at last! We did 8.5 miles in total at an average pace of 6:10.

Tuesday's session was a bit of a disaster, I never really felt comfortable or committed to it for some reason - possibly due to the tiredness, but also perhaps as it was another solo effort, but whatever the reason I ended up cutting down to just 8 x 1 minute reps off a 45 second recovery, the average pace wasn't actually that bad looking back on it, but I didn't enjoy it one bit - and the knee pain peaked during the cool down which made my mind up to take Wednesday off completely to try and recover. Ice, magic bags of peas and self massage have become my biggest recovery aids recently and I had plenty of that on my day off training.

It appeared to have done the trick, and although I wasn't really satisfied with my run on Thursday it was a pain free session and more miles in the tank at least, as I did 2 x 2 miles at an average pace of 5:10.

Friday was a ten mile steady effort at 6:25 pace and was again largely pain free and another box ticked. 

I decided to do a park run on Saturday morning as a substitute session for my two poor mid-week ones and thankfully I was joined by Luke Minns so we added a 30 minute warm up and cool down on either side of Blackpool Park Run which we tempo' at just over 5:20 pace. 16:24 for the 5k was a pleasing enough run in the rain and damp underfoot conditions through the woods.

I finished the week off with a really strong long run on Sunday, I did 16.5 miles at an average pace of 6:08, starting gentle at 6:50 pace and working my way down to 6:20 by half way and getting below 6 minute mileing for all of the second half miles.

The week ended a lot stronger than it started and hopefully I am now over the worst of the knee pain and able to crack on more again from here.

Total mileage for the week: 72.5

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

Total mileage for month of March: 294.5

Total mileage so far this month (April): 28

Total mileage for 2017: 888.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.66

Northern 12 stage road relays

Through the first two and a bit months of the new year I had weeks on end without managing to get a race in, so it seems as though I have made up for lost time a little bit recently with a flurry of 3 races in four weeks. 

This week it was a chance to get involved with a team event, as it was the Northern 12 stage road relays, which were held at Stanley Park in Blackpool. It is a great event and one of the highlights of the racing calendar due to both the high standard of competition, but also as it is a real chance to socialise and work together with all the members of your club as it is a proper team event and a full day out.

Thankfully recovered from my back trouble and with my periformas feeling much better, I was still still struggling throughout the whole week with the same knee pain that had troubled me in the build up to Wilmslow Half. A spot of physio on Tuesday evening led to a diagnosis of the problem to be a strained medial ligament in my left knee. The symptoms are similar to something called 'runner's knee' and thankfully I've been advised that it is something that I can just monitor and manage - so as long as it doesn't hurt or trouble me too much I can just run through the pain and hopefully it will ease off with a bit of time. I certainly don't want to be taking more days off if I can help it!

So having been told I can crack on with my training, I managed a fairly good mileage week, albeit with a slightly reduced intensity in some of the sessions in order to try and aid my knee's recovery prior to the relays.

On Monday, I managed 13 steady miles, 4.5 fairly gentle early doors, before 8.5 at the club night later on.

On Tuesday I again ran steady, as I decided on doing just one hard run in the middle of the week between the two weekend races. Therefore I ticked over with a ten miler at 6:40 pace. Then on Wednesday I did 2 x 2 miles with Rob Affleck. This week's session was slightly different as we chose shorter, more intense reps on an undulating course in order to try and prepare the legs as fully as possible ahead of race day. I was pleased with the session as I came out with 5:11 average pace - recording 10:20 for the first effort and 10:24 for the second.

I suffered a bit with the knee on both Thursday and Friday, so had to tread a bit more carefully than I would have liked and I just trotted out 7.5 miles each evening at 6:50s.

I got lucky, as by the time the relays came around the knee pain had eased off again and I was able to race without any trouble on that score.

I feel that I had a fairly strong run, and considering the strength of the field, I was happy to come away from leg one with a tenth place finish. Mine was one of four long legs, which was a distance of approximately 5.9 miles. The course threw up some challenges with quite a few tight bends, twists and turns and the odd lump and bump too, but being on the first leg ensured that I had plenty of company and competition to drag me around. I finished with a time of 29:54. 

Team Wesham had a good turnout and managed to field two complete men's teams, as well as two women's teams too, and everybody performed really well - so much so that we managed to beat local rivals Blackpool and Lytham - well done boys!

On Sunday morning I did my long run with Luke Minns of Blackpool (yes he got reminded of our scalp!) and we took it fairly easy with it being the day after racing and stuck to 6:30 pace to round off a solid week.

Total mileage for the week: 76

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

Total mileage so far this month (March): 250

Total mileage for 2017: 816

Average miles per day 2017: 9.60

Wilmslow Half Marathon 2017

I was feeling in good shape and fairly high in confidence at the start of this week, after the recent run out at Trafford. I was hoping to push on and have another good run at Wilmslow Half, and the big aim was to try and break the 70 minute barrier, having gone pretty close on a few occasions last year, with runs of 70:29, 70:48 and 70:52. 

Up until Thursday this week, I would have said I was in good condition to finally do it and take another little rung up that ladder. I had begun to taper down from Monday, doing just 8.5 miles at 6:50s, much less than my usual 10-12 at a faster rate. 

I followed this up with a reduced speed session on Tuesday of 6 x 3 minutes effort / 1 minute jog recovery. I wasn't particularly concerned with my pace too much so long as I was under my intended race pace. I was content with my average pace of 5:08s for the efforts considering the undulations of the loop I was doing the session on and the strong winds on sections of it.

On Wednesday I had an easy 7.5 mile run at 6:30s. At this stage I was feeling confident ahead of the weekend, with just one reduced tempo session planned for the Thursday, before a day off on Friday and an easy run set for Saturday ahead of the race. I had done all the hard work and was easing down and within sight of the race and feeling ready. The forecast wasn't great, but there is nothing you can do about that.

Then at Thursday, out of nowhere and for no obvious reason, my back tightened up halfway through the working day. To complicate things further, I felt something click in my knee as I tried to pull myself up onto a scaffold without straining my back further! I cancelled my tempo session and tried an easy run, but had to give up after 3 miles as I was worried about doing more damage. 

I managed to get a massage booked in for the Friday after work, and Sue Samme worked miracles on me once again and loosened he back right up. The problem was once again with my glutes and periformas, so it is something that I am becoming increasingly aware of needing to strengthen as it is about the fourth time I have had this problem in the last couple of years. I have a feeling it is an occupational hazard injury due to being on the trowel all day, but I'm sure there must be things I can do to prevent it, so I will have to get researching!

As well as having Friday off, I had to take Saturday completely off to, rather than risk inflaming my back again, or my knee further, as I was still feeling pain there too. I was feeling a bit fed up and sorry for myself and was pretty 50/50 whether I would even race, deciding to leave the final shout until after my warm up on the day.

I got through my warm up unscathed and felt just a little bit stiff - probably more from the couple of unplanned days off more than anything else, and the pain in my knee wasn't causing me any problems when running.

So deciding to race, I then made my mind up to stick with the original plan of trying to hold 5:15 pace for as long as possible, with the aim of getting time in the bank in the easier first half of the course.

The first mile was pretty rapid at about 5:05, as I tried to make sure I managed to get into a pack. Thankfully, the big group then broke up a little, into two separate groups shortly after. I found myself in a four man pack with Salford's Grant Johnson, Mark Offord and Rob Affleck.

The conditions weren't great, and as such I think being part of this little group was definitely beneficial, as we all took it in turns to head the group and push the pace. At around 4 miles, the group dropped to three as Rob Affleck dropped back a bit and we kept the pace nice and even, ticking along at a decent rate. We went through 10k in 32:30, which was a tiny bit quicker than I had expected, but I was feeling strong and working with the other two lads was helping as we seemed to be ticking the miles off fairly quickly. 

We continued to share the load up to 8 miles, and we went through that mark at 5:16 pace, meaning that at that stage we were on about 69:20 pace. Shortly after that, Grant pushed on strongly and I wasn't able to go with him - and to be honest my own pace dropped as I suffered a bit between miles 9 and 11 to over 5:30s. Unfortunately this meant my average pace dropped off from the 5:20s needed to get below the 70 minute barrier. I struggled to get back on pace and ended up running home the final mile fairly conservatively, content in the knowledge that I had given it everything and that the conditions and dramas of the few days previously hadn't helped.

I have to be happy with the performance considering where I was at in the days leading up to the race, and I am fairly confident that I am not too far off from that elusive sub 70 now. Ending up in the prizes with a 9th place finish was a nice ending too, as I finished in 70:39.

Rob Affleck managed to finish in 14th place for first vet 45 and Garry Barnett also had a great run in 1:24 as we all enjoyed our day out and pub lunch afterwards🍺

Hopefully I will recover well through the coming week now, ahead of next weekend's Northern Road Relays.

Total mileage for the week: 48

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:37

Total mileage so far this month (March): 174

Total mileage for 2017: 730

Average miles per day 2017: 9.36

Trying to strike the right balance

On the back of a successful first race of the year at Trafford 10k, this week was a mixture of making sure I recovered sufficiently from the efforts of that race, whilst also making sure I got through enough work to make sure I am sharp ahead of another big race at Wilmslow Half Marathon next weekend.

My hamstrings were feeling a little tight during the days after the race, so I made sure not to do too much high end pace work in the first couple of days. That said, I did manage to some decent paced steady runs under my belt as I trained with my clubmates on Monday night which helped me get down to 6:13 pace for 8 miles. Then on Tuesday, I replaced my usual pace work with a bit of a tempo run instead, incorporating 5 miles at 5:40 pace into a total run of 9 miles.

On Wednesday I reigned things back again and had an easy 8 mile run at 6:40 pace.

Thursday's session with Affleck was our usual tempo, this time we reduced it back down to the 4 miles, and I managed to hold my pace steady at 5:08 pace, which was pleasing considering I'd had a hard race days previously.

Friday was a really easy paced 7.5 miles at 6:55 pace, as my legs were feeling a bit heavy from both the race and the previous day's speed work.

As I wasn't at the Intercounties this year, in its place I managed to do an extra hard training session with the ever improving Joe Monk. We did 7 miles around the docks and Joe looked strong and relaxed throughout. I held my pace at 5:40 throughout as I kept next weekend's race in mind, but Joe ran away from me in the final miles as he grew into the run really strongly.

I finished my week off with 13 miles on Sunday morning with Luke Minns and an easy 3 mile recovery run with my dad in the evening.

The next week now will be all about tapering correctly for Wimslow and trying to ensure I get to that start line in the best shape possible in order to give myself as much of a chance as I can of setting a new pb.

Total mileage for the week: 75.5

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

Total mileage so far this month (March): 126

Total mileage for 2017: 682

Average miles per day 2017: 9.61

Trafford 10k 2017

After months of waiting and weeks of frustration, lots of hard work and a few set backs, this weekend I finally got back to racing for the first time this year.

My last race prior to Trafford 10k was at Ribble Valley 10k back on the 27th December last year, the ten weeks in between have been testing and I've had to work hard to get back to this point, but I'm pleased to say today was well worth the wait.

I may not have been racing, but my main concern in the build up to the race was my lack of top level speed work. I haven't been near the track in months, my last visit being back at the end of October. I have been worried that this will affect my racing performance as I will find it harder to hit top gear and my fastest possible speed. Today's performance doesn't take away those concerns over the shorter distances, and I will definitely need to revisit the track before the summer 5k season.

However, I have maintained solid tempo sessions and have increasingly picked up the pace across my longer runs, meaning that I am confident that stamina and endurance wise I am at the best level I have ever been, and I feel I am more prepared and in better longer distance shape. It will be interesting to see how I get on at Wilmslow Half in two weeks time on the back of this performance.

Throughout the week I had been a bit unsure as to my approach to training ahead of the race, I knew that I needed to some sort of pace work in order to sharpen up, but having not visited the track all year I was wary of doing too much and expending energy. To complicate things a bit more, Rob Affleck has been struggling with a niggle and so we had to cancel our usual tempo run on Thursday. So I had some decisions to make and it seems I got away with it all a bit! 

On Monday I did a longer steady run, including 9 miles of work with Wesham at our club night - it has been a while since I had made it down to our regular club nights, and it was good to see familiar faces for the first time in a while. I topped my mileage up a bit more with a 4.5 mile jog beforehand to give me 13.5 miles in total for the day.

On Tuesday I decided to run easy rather than do any pace work - this was for no particular reason other than the fact I started playing mind games with myself about how tired I was, how much effort I should be putting in on race week and whether or not I needed a rest. In the end I did 8 miles at a steady 6:23 pace.

Wednesday was again interesting from a mental perspective, as this time I felt guilty for not doing enough the previous day. I made a decision to do 6 x 800 metre efforts on the road, but after just two and a half reps I pulled up and decided to just jog it in through the rest of the session. My legs felt heavy in the aftermath, but I cut the session short for no oh her reason than voices in my head telling me I was being silly and doing too much.

On Thursday I was due to do a 20 minute tempo at about 5:20 pace, but again I decided to reign this in to 15 minutes at 5:22s, with a 15 minute warm up and cool down either side.

On Friday and Saturday my legs felt terrible and I was running very leggy. I did 6 miles on each day at around 6:55 pace. With hindsight, as weird as it may sound I think my body had tightened up in order to protect me ahead of race day, sensing that we were about to be exerting ourself much more than what I have done in a while.

Sunday. Finally we had got here, I was back on the start line of a road race. On the back of my recent tempo runs and my park run performance a few weeks ago, I was fairly confident that if I ran well I was capable of a sub 31:30 run and was hopeful of hitting around about the 31:20 mark. I knew that I would have a lot of people around me and that this could have the potential to drag extra out of me and help me hit my best form.

I had a race plan and I stuck to it. Knowing that I had confidence in my speed endurance, and that I have been running negative splits in all of my main sessions in recent weeks, I decided to start more conservatively than usual and try to grow into the race. That way, I could pick up the pace as I hit a nice rhythm and gain confidence and momentum by passing runners in the second half of the race.

I ran a steady first two kilometres and then started to slowly increase the pace, mile 3 was into a headwind and slightly up hill, which slowed me again somewhat, but I went through half way in 15:42, meaning that I was in the range for a 31:20-31:30 run. I got into a few really good battles through the second half of the race and did indeed manage to gain a few positions and some momentum on my way to the finish. I did manage to negative split, just as I did at Cheshire 10k in November. I went through the second 5k in 15:28 in order to cross the line in 31:10 for a new 10k personal best and 56th place in a ridiculously stacked field!

(Thanks to Mick Hall photography for the photo, you can find more images from the race on his Facebook page and online)

It has been a long time coming, but the comeback was well worth the wait.

Total mileage for the week: 64

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:37

Total mileage for February: 281.5

Total mileage so far this month (March): 50.5

Total mileage for 2017: 606.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.33

Catching up

The theme to this week's blog is playing catch up, both in terms of with training after the slow start to 2017, and also with you lot having missed blogging last week as I was away!

So we have two weeks training to catch up with and look back on. The first week to review was February 13-19th. I started the week concerned that I would once again be missing vital days of training and mileage, as I had a weekend away in Edinburgh booked as part of Molly's birthday present. However, with a bit of tweaking and adjustment to my usual routine, I actually managed a very good weeks work and the break barely impacted on my training at all in the end.

We were away from Friday morning to Sunday evening, and as such I began the week imagining having to take a couple of days off, but by getting up at the crack of dawn on Friday to squeeze in some miles before our train, and by doing my late run late on Sunday evening when we got back, I only had to take the single day off in the end, and it was a day that I was ready for no running on anyway, so it all worked in very well. It was fantastic to get away and spend some quality time with Moll, and Edinburgh is one of our favourite places in the world, and next time I go I will have to pack my trainers as the parks are amazing and would provide some great routes.

On Tuesday the 14th, I got possibly my best speed session of the year so far in. I did relatively long reps, as I did 3 x 1.5 miles around the docks, off a 3 minute jog recovery. My reps were both consistent and also done at a fairly good pace, as I recorded times of 7:33, 7:33 and 7:38 for the three laps, providing me with 4.5 miles of pace work at an average of 5:02 per mile, which is approximately my 10k pace now so I was really pleased with that. It was good to be down below 5 minutes for the first mile of each rep too for the first time in a while.

On the Thursday (16th) I followed that speed session on with a solid tempo run, again around the docks. I did 5 miles again, as I had for the few weeks previous, and similar to the week prior, I managed to start relatively conservatively and crank up the pace a bit as we went through our final miles. I found myself ticking over at a nice and consistent rhythm and was feeling relaxed and comfortable all the way around as I ended up with 25:58 for the 5 miles (5:11 average pace). The pace that I was running at equates to roughly a 32 minute 10k, so along with how comfortable a rhythm I was going along at, the signs are starting to look a lot more positive for a run of form ahead of me.

On the Sunday, upon our return from Edinburgh, I managed to maintain my current momentum with a good 16 mile long run, as I went through the first 14 at 6:08 pace before reigning it in for the final couple of miles to make sure I wasn't too tired for my run the next day, as I had gone out for this one at 6pm and was wary of wanting to do another 10 or so the following evening.

Anyway, here is a brief summary of that week in numbers...

Total mileage for the week: 66

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

Total mileage so far this month (February): 193

Total mileage for 2017: 467.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.35

Now, this week has been again pretty consistent and pleasing, although the weather and hurricane Doris in particular, meant that I once again did some juggling around with my routine and switched around sessions and days, etc in order to make sure I got enough quality in without expending too much energy on days when I would be fighting a losing battle against the elements.

On Monday I got a nice round 10 miler in, in time to make it home to watch the Newcastle match on the tele! 

Tuesday's session was 4 x 1 miles around the Wesham handicap loop off a 90 second jog recovery. The wind was pretty shocking and the route is fairly hilly on stretches too so I knew that it would be difficult to record particularly fast times. Therefore I wasn't too disheartened when some of my reps fell below the pace I would normally strive for. My 4 miles were: 5:11, 4:57, 5:15, 5:10. This equates to an average pace of 5:08, so considering the conditions, I will take having got a half decent session in and clocking at least the one sub 5 minute mile.

I did an easy 9 miles on Wednesday at 6:35 pace as a recovery run after putting quite a lot into the last few days of training and having slightly heavier legs than I would want.

On Thursday, I had a late change of plan and swapped my normal 5 mile tempo run, in favour of a longer progression run instead. This decision was made due to the high winds caused by hurricane Doris, and I felt that I wouldn't be able to get down to the pace I would usually target without putting in unnecessary levels of energy for a training exercise. Instead, I chose that I would do the Park Run at that tempo pace instead if I could, and if conditions allowed. So Thursday's run turned out to be two loops of a local 5 mile route that I have. I set myself a target of running a negative split, and to increase the pace through each one of the last 5 miles, to ensure that my last mile was my strongest. I was well happy with how the run progressed and having gone through halfway in 31:17, for an average of about 6:14s through those 5 miles, I clocked 5:50, 5:55, 5:45, 5:32 and 5:31 for the final miles, to come out with 59:48 for the 10 miles, meaning that I both executed my target and also managed to dip under 6 minute mileing for my pace throughout the run.

Friday was an easy run to save energy ahead of the park run, and it was good to get some solid hills in too, as I ran around the Hoghton and Brindle area straight after work. I did 7.5 miles and thoroughly enjoyed running around some lanes and rural routes that I've never had chance to see before. It's somewhere that I would definitely go back to and do sessions in future runs.

On Saturday at Preston Park Run, I was pleased to run solid and consistent 5:10 pace throughout the run - particularly so considering the fact that I had been out until the early hours after being invited to a Sportman's Dinner on Friday night, the beer was all free too, so really I did well just to make it to the run at all! Friday was a brilliant night as the Blues Brother's set about putting the band back together 😂

I was satisfied with my run at the Park Run, it wasn't as quick as my runout there at the start of the month, but it served its purpose and I got a great workout done, finishing the 5k in 15:57. 

I had decided a while ago that I would forgo the National Crosscountry championships after a disastrous season, and instead prioritise the road races that are coming up, beginning with Trafford 10k next Sunday, which promises to be a fantastic event and has a frightening amount of depth signed up to take part, with some 200 sub 32 minute standard runners going to be battling it out at the front end!

I am lacking in a bit of really top end speed work still, but my endurance work has been ratcheted up a couple of notches in recent weeks, and so I am hopeful of being able to still put in a good shift next weekend and am hoping to come away with a good performance.

This weeks long run was my best in months and months, as I did 16.5 miles at an average of 6:07 pace, feeling comfortable and with a consistent rhythm throughout. Once again I managed to negative split and crank it up as the run went on, and my final miles were my strongest, which is a great sign looking forwards to Wilmslow Half in three weeks time. I topped up the run to a total of 18.5 miles by doing a twenty minute cool down jog as I ran with Moll to get her homework done. She has joined Wesham's latest beginners group and has been doing really well and enjoying her running once more, and I am really proud of all her efforts. I can't wait to see her and the other beginners do their park run at the end of the course, and hopefully they all stick at it with the club beyond that too and get the bug! 

Total mileage for the week: 75

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:25

Total mileage so far this month (February): 268

Total mileage for 2017: 542.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.52

Patience

After a jerky January, I am attempting to jump start my new year this month and using the coming weeks to build momentum ahead of a big month of races in March.

I feel that I am beginning to come through the other side of the rough patch and on my last few runs and sessions have gradually began to feel some of the old rhythm starting to creep back in to my running at last.

After a solid showing at Preston Park Run last weekend, I attempted to follow up that performance with a turn out at the Blackpool Park Run this time out. This was because I knew there was going to be a big Wesham turnout in order to look after and help out one of our own that are going through difficult times. It also meant there would be an opportunity to see some friendly faces for the first time in a while, whilst also having a crack at a new course, as this was only the second outing of the Blackpool version of the Park Run.

Unfortunately, having a head like a sieve, I forgot to take my barcode and so my performance was null and voided. Nethertheless it was still a useful runout and provided me with some more much needed shorter distance speed work. I didn't produce a particularly fast time, but I couldn't have been much more consistent with my pacing, and as I say I am striving for that consistent rhythm more than anything right now. I paced myself around the miles in 5:18, 5:17, 5:17 for a finishing time of 16:08 on what was a comfortable solo run.

My week started with another mini wobble, as I had a recurrence of a recent niggle which I haven't mentioned on here previously, as I was aware I was beginning to sound like a stuck record and a sick note on the injury front! I have had a slight problem with my Achilles on and off for about 2-3 weeks, and it flared up again on Monday and Tuesday which affected my training plans somewhat. I still managed to get 8 miles in the bank on Monday and attempted a speed session of sorts on Tuesday - although I decided it best to keep away from the track once again. 

Tuesday's session was something of a disaster to be honest, but at least I managed to get some sort of session done. I did 4 x 1 mile, but they were all over the show pace wise, ranging from 5:24 to 5:00. 

Wednesday was a short and easy recovery run, mostly because I knew I had to be home early for Molly's birthday meal, but also so as to rest up the Achilles as much as possible ahead of Thursday's run.

On Thurday with Rob Affleck, we again did the 5 mile tempo, and having clocked 5:23 average last week, this time our target was to beat that and try to get down to 5:20s. Early on in the run we kept it fairly chilled and relaxed, with the intention to crank it up as the run progressed. We did just that, starting off with a 5:18, before a slightly slower than anticipated second mile of 5:27. Feeling strong I decided to push the pace on a little bit, whilst still striving for that consistent rhythm and action, and I was delighted with how strongly I grew into the second half of the run clocking 5:11, 5:07 and 5:07 to finish the 5 miles in 26:24.

Friday saw me do 10 miles running home from work in Penwortham at 6:26 pace in my new replacement trainers. I have attributed the recent Achilles problem to switching to a different brand of trainers at around the same time as the flare up occurred. I have had physio and kept a close eye on it and there is nothing untoward so far as we can tell, which suggests that this may be the case.

On Sunday I did my long run early morning with the company of Rob Affleck, and it was my strongest one in quite some time, as we went through 8 miles at 6:31 pace, before I got down to an average pace of 5:49 for the second half of the run to end up with 6:09 pace average for the full 16, we topped it up with a cool down jog to fetch a total return of 17.5 miles at 6:18s.

Total mileage for the week: 71

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:25

Total mileage so far this month (February): 127

Total mileage for 2017: 401.5

Average miles per day 2017: 9.34