M AM 6.21 miles recovery (7:06mm avge), PM 4 miles recovery (7:02mm avge)
T 9.1 miles, including 5X600m VO2Max Intervals (6:15mm avge)
W 15.12 miles progressive (6:14mm avge)
T 7.18 miles recovery, including 6X100m strides (7:05mm avge)
F 6.07 miles recovery (7:11mm avge)
S 13.86 miles, including Battersea Park 10 Mile race @ 5:18mm (5:59mm avge)
S 18.19 miles mildly progressive (6:31mm avge)
Total 79.73 miles (6:30mm avge)
This week has been a real breakthrough week for me. I mentioned last week that I was going to do a 10 mile race on Saturday morning and was going to give it my all to see where I am fitness wise. It went as well, if not better than I could ever have hoped for. I'll get on to that in a bit but first....
Tuesday I had a slightly lighter interval session than the previous week of 5 X 600m with 1min 10secs jog recovery within a 9 miler. It was lighter in volume than normal due to the race in Saturday but as ever the intensity was brutal! I was pleased with the result though as they all averaged around 1:49 which is c4:51 per mile pace. Wednesday I took my run to work a little bit gentler as I didn't want to be over fatuged leading into the weekend.
And then Thursday and Friday were just very light jogs to taper into the race.....
I had set myself a target of running under 53 minutes at the 10 mile race and I knew that this would be a real stretch. Having said that I had done some good tempo runs earlier in the campaign where I have been holding c5:22 per mile for 5 miles so I knew that if I'd had the right tempo effort then sub 53 wouldn't be out of the question, but what it meant was to average 5:18 per mile for 10 miles! I kept telling myself that I could do it and went in to the race very very positively. I also knew that it was unlikely that there would be too many people running at that pace as it was a fairly low key race so it would all be on my own which makes things even more tricky. That said, the conditions were near perferct; despite the wind gusting a little it was nice and cool and an incredibly flat road course which was made up of a few laps of Battersea Park.
I had seen that a 2:25 marathon runner was on the start line.... and I had also had a brief chat with Pat Wright who nearly caught me in the dying stages of Liverpool Marathon last year but I just managed to hold him off! Anyway, I had done a couple of miles to warm up and included a few strides just to get the legs turn over a little quicker and then we were sent on our way. One guy shot off at a great pace and he quickly opened up a 20 metre lead then a 30 metre lead.... I didnt want to go with him though as my plan was to try and be sensible and get as close to my target as possible. The pace in a 10 miler almost immediately feels tough and even approaching mile one I was thinking, this is going to be a hard run but that's what I'd signed up for so it was cool. I hit the first mile in 5:09 (although I think the mile marker was placed a little too soon) and the guy up front was still a good 30 metres in front but starting to slow I think ocne he had checked his split time which must have been around 5:03! I was already isolated in second place with a big group trailing me another 30 metres back (I found out after the race that the 2:25 runner was just pacing some club mates to 55 minutes which is about his marathon pace). As I approached a mile and a half, I overtook the guy who had shot off and from this point on it was about digging in and concentrating so intently on the job in hand. The miles ticked by but by 3 I was thinking good grief I've got another 7 at this pace! So what, I was prepared for it to go wrong. Sometimes you have to push yourself to see what you're made of. I carried on relentlessly and hit 5 miles in 26:22 which would be a PB by 58 seconds! I then kept focus thinking that I could afford to slow but only marginally and the sub 53 would still be mine. I hit 10k in 32:53 which would also be a PB by 55 seconds so at least I knew I was in good shape (I have a 10k race planned in 3 weeks time so will be very tempted to see if I can go under 32 minutes...). At this point it was really starting to hurt but I was still on target so I kept telling myself just get to the next mile marker, keep driving. I got to seven and I really didn't know how I was going to manage another three. Once I got to eight miles psychologically it was a bit easier as I knew I had one more hard mile and then it would be a case of digging in for the finish. So I got to 9 miles and knew that as long as I kept pace I should be ok..... As I hit the home straight I could see the clock ticking up and it was getting agonizingly close as I tried to muster a sprint... 52:43, 52:48, 52:53, 52:56 dig in, dig in. This mile measured slightly longer on the Garmin (which might have countered the short first mile) but I managed to dip over the line with a 52:58 in first place. I cant explain how happy I was and how chuffed I felt with myself for really setting a challenging target and just going for it. For it to come off perfectly was so sweet.
I then did an 18 miler this morning at a slightly more relaxed pace than normal and the legs didnt complain too much until a bit later in the run. I do however expect to be in pieces tomorrow. :-)
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