Ribble Valley 10k - Week 6 of 8

M 3 miles (7:43mm), 10 miles (7:10mm)
T 10.5 miles (7:11mm), 6 miles HA (7:33mm)
W 8 miles including 6X10s flat out hill sprints (7:26mm), 6 miles HA (7:27mm)
T 12 miles including XC Fartlek (6:18mm), 5.5 miles (7:23mm)
F 10 miles (7:44mm), 5.5 miles (7:25mm)
S 6.5 miles (HA) (6:54mm)
S 17.5 miles (6:09mm)

Total 100 miles (7:04mm)


Weight 142.8lbs
Aerobic efficiency 984 beats per mile Vs 971 beats per mile

After last week's Stockport 10 I knew I would be a bit tired so decided to run really easily for any day that wasn't a session. This is reflected in the relatively slow average pace of this week's mileage. That said I was obviously keen to pick up the mileage with the Ribble Valley race just over two weeks away.

I managed to get in a couple of sessions through the week with the first on Thursday, following a run on Wednesday with six 10s flat-out hill sprints. It was nice that this session was to be on the grass. My first XC session this season. I would like to race well at the County Champs, Northern's and National, hence why it was about time to introduce some of this stuff again.

After a good nine months of running on the road it was a bit of a shock to the system to be running hard on boggy grass. The session was 6mins, 3X2mins, 6mins, 3X2mins, 6Mins with the plan to run the 6 minute efforts around 10k effort and the 2 minutes around 5k effort. The session went well and showed that the easy running up until Thursday had helped me recover from last week's race. As a road runner it is funny when you first get back on the grass as it is just a lot slower despite the effort! I am hoping that these sessions and the forthcoming races will help toughen me up a bit! Thanks to my darling wife, Hania for the snaps!

The second session was something that I was dreading a little! I wanted to do a hilly long run with some effort. Based on last week's race and how I generally fair on hills I thought it was sensible to move away from the flat for a change for a more challenging long run. I had planned to do around 17/18 miles but with 5 laps of the local park at c Marathon effort with a couple of minutes standing recovery. The park is set on quite a sizeable hill which means the first mile is downhill and the second mile is pretty much straight up. I was questioning my sanity on the first rep as it felt so hard, even the downhill bit! The legs were like jelly after the second one so I decided I would do one more rather than the full five. I then finished the run with a three mile stretch at a steady pace (5:50s) which felt much harder than it would have had I just run the whole thing on the flat at the same pace. I did find this run very tough and I think I found it tough not because I wasn't recovered or today was a 'bad day' but simply because I tend to avoid hills wherever possible! So in retrospect I absolutely loved it as it feels like hills could be a big chink in my armoury and if I can improve it (along with my ability over the Country) then this will surely make me a better runner so come London next year I will have that strength to get me home those last few miles when it's needed most.

So one more big week, before I start easing off significantly over the following 10 days to freshen up for Ribble Valley.

As a final point I saw the results come in from the Telford 10k and it is great to see hard working athletes such as Carl Hardman (clocked his first ever sub 30 10k!) and others working their socks off to break through new barriers. I am truly excited by what is happening in the sport at the moment and take such inspiration from all athletes working as hard as they can to reach their goals.

 

Ribble Valley 10k - Week 5 of 8

M 10.5 miles (6:34mm)
T 8 miles HA (6:51mm), 6.5 miles (7:19mm)
W 9.5 miles Fartlek (5:56mm)
T 6 miles (7:16mm)
F 5 miles (6:59mm)
S 3 miles (7:22mm)
S 10 mins early AM (8:34mm), 15 miles including Stockport 10

Total 65 miles (6:37mm)
Aerobic efficiency 971 beats per mile Vs 969 beats per mile


So a reduced week of miles this week as I wanted to be a bit fresher for the Stockport 10 on Sunday. That said I still did a decent amount of volume with a good session on Wednesday before cutting the mileage significantly. In hindsight I probably didn't cut the mileage as much as I should in order to be at my freshest but Ribble Valley is the main target at the moment, and I will take a proper taper for that.


The session on Wednesday was 2X1mile, 3X1/2mile and then 8X100m strides. I did it on the treadmill as it was still pretty icy outside when I came to do the session. I felt in control but it possibly was a little too much the week of a race.


We were lucky in that we had pretty much perfect weather for Sunday's race and I felt good and ready to go despite a busy day previously with my daughter Mia's 5th birthday party. I was confident of having a go at trying to break my PB despite it being known as a tough course. Off we went and The pace was quick from the outset but it felt OK so I went with it. As we went through the first mile with me sat in fourth at 5:01 I realised that it may be a tad quick so tried to ease back a little but the legs kept going! Mark Offord joined me and we ran together (through 3 flat miles in 15:21 - not far off my 5k pace!) until five miles when he started to pull away up a big hill. As we reached the top I was really starting to struggle and my legs didn't feel that happy at all! Luckily there was still a target to focus on in the shape of Jack Nixon of Stockport who I could see was slowing a bit. I carried on working but was suddenly overtaken by Chris Arthur of Blackburn. I kept my head down and focused on trying to reel Jack in. And on a downhill stretch I managed to catch him and move straight past. From here it was just about getting to the end. There's a really testing hill between 8.5-9.2 miles which is when you least need it and although I was working hard to try and bridge the gap to Mark Offord, he was too strong for me so I decided to rein it in a little for the last bit knowing that a PB was out of the question. I crossed the line in 5th place in a time of 53:41 which considering the course was not bad especially given I almost certainly went off too quick. Sometimes it's worth it though to find out what sort of shape you're in but I will certainly be a little more conservative at the Ribble Valley.

Last 1/2 mile at Stockport. Photo credit: Alan Williams

I decided not to track my weight this week as I didn't want too many OCD distractions!  I was pleased in that I managed to continue to eat healthily and certainly felt well fuelled for the run given I moved to proportionally more carbohydrates the two days before the race. I'm conscious that I probably do need to get a bit leaner (I really notice it on the hills - but then it does help with the downhills!), but also cognisant of the fact that I need to eat enough to fuel my training. Given London is the main target I think perhaps I will just try and be a little more relaxed about my weight at the moment. I cant be super skinny all year round but will make a big effort to get to around race weight for when the specific phase starts.

This week I'll be getting back to some decent miles and all being well should go past the 4,000miles for the year on Tuesday. I also plan to get my first XC session in on Thursday, providing the legs are back to normal.