T 8.5 miles (7:00mm) plus 1 hour circuits
W 8 miles (7:25mm), 5 miles (7:20mm)
T 12 miles including 6X1mile (6:13mm)
F Rest
S 5 miles, including some strides
S 16.5 miles including Humber Bridge Half Marathon
Total 69 miles (6:46mm)
Aerobic efficiency 997 beats per mile
So this was my first week of 'let's have a bit fun' no-pressure running for a few weeks before getting stuck into the meaty stuff. I did my first ever circuits session on Tuesday which was great fun but left me feeling a little sore in some new places! After not doing much last week (45 miles) I decided I still needed a session plus today's planned half marathon as my harder runs of the week. The first of those was on Thursday which was 6X1mile with 2:00 recovery. Having not run hard for a while I thought I would start off steadily and increase the pace of the efforts throughout the session. It worked very nicely with 5:29, 5:27, 5:24, 5:15, 5:11, 5:05 as the efforts (5:18 avge) but I was certainly working quite hard on the last couple. I suspected it gave me a reasonable approximation of current half marathon pace which would be helpful for today's race at the Humber Bridge Half.
The plan with the race was really just to enjoy the process and again not get bogged down with the time or pacing, but just to race my competitors on the day as best I could. I know I'm carrying a bit too much timber at the moment (will start weighing myself from tomorrow, promise Guv) and am not in lightening shape so a PB was never going to be on the cards. Especially as the course is certainly a bit bumpy and even on a still day is quite windy as it's so exposed going over the bridge a couple of times! Plus I don't want to be that fit yet, I want to be really really fit in 16 weeks time!
The race started off really nicely and I found myself in a nice group that had whittled down to three by the 2 mile marker. Myself, club-mate Timmy Davies and Gregan Clarkson a City of Hull runner. As we crossed the Bridge Gregan built up a bit of a gap and Timmy dropped back a little, I wanted to make sure I held on to Gregan and ensured he didn't get too far away from me. As we turned into Barton around the 5 mile point I felt really good and as there was a nice downhill I decided to use this part to try and get the initiative. It wasn't long before I'd built up a decent lead. The route has some testing climbs in the last four miles which are where you don't really want them in a half but I still managed to go on to win by over 2 minutes which was very pleasing, with Timmy coming in second and Phill Taylor of Bridlington completing the podium. I really enjoyed the course, with some spectacular views and great support through the villages all the way around.
Photo Credit Nikola Bailie
I'm keeping tabs on my aerobic efficiency again and it's nice to see it below the 1,000 beats per mile average as that is a decent marker for me being in an OK position. Certainly not unfit, but a long way away from my most efficient.
Few easy days planned now and then another race next weekend.
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