T 7 miles HA (6:49mm)
W 8.5 miles including Doncaster 5k
T 5 miles (7:20mm), 9 miles HA (6:45mm)
F 5 miles (7:11mm)
S 9 miles including Fountains Abbey parkrun
S 16 miles (6:15mm), 5 miles (6:47mm)
Total 78 miles (6:38mm)
Aerobic efficiency 971 beats per mile
Weight 143.3lbs
Body Fat 10.5%
This week was to include two 5k blasts to see where I'm at! It was a mixed bag on reflection!
The first race was at Doncaster 5k on Wednesday evening. I went into this feeling super confident after a couple of decent sessions last week and starting to feel really quite fit, so was hoping to knock chunks off. Let me get my excuses in early.... I do most of my running, including quality first thing in the morning so running hard at 8pm is not that common for me. I'm usually thinking about going to bed at that time. I did run 102 miles last week with two very high quality sessions and a nippy long run, so was perhaps a bit tired and as I know I am better at the longer stuff than these relative sprints. Anyway, I only thought of these excuses after what can only be described as a very poor run. I set off feeling really quite comfortable with the lead group but by 2k although aerobically I felt really comfortable (my heart rate didn't get above 10k HR and in fact it averaged only 181 when the 10 mile race I did a couple of weeks ago it averaged 183!), my legs were accumulating lactic and I couldn't do anything to buffer it. This resulted in me slowing to a 15:47 finish time. Now, this is an official road PB but still a long way short of what I should be capable of. In hindsight I should have gone into it a bit fresher as 102 mile week is perhaps not conducive to fast 5k times. It was also a bit of a wasted opportunity as it was a good field and had I been fresher should have been dragged to a considerably better time. Still taking the positives from it, if my HR didnt get above 10k effort it bodes well for a decent, for me, 10k time at some point.
Then onto Saturday which was to be a day I have been looking forward to for a while. I did the Fountains Abbey parkrun as my Dad lives nearby and he'd been pestering me to do it again! It is quite a hilly course (certainly much slower than Doncaster 5k!), but we were met with beautiful sunshine and a bit of a stiff breeze. There cant be a prettier place to run a 5k on a Saturday morning, it is simply stunning. It was lovely to have my Old Man and Step-Mum Anne cheering me on too. After Wednesday's debacle I decided to take this a bit more cautiously and set off more relaxed and felt really good. it probably helped that it was in the morning but even so I was running well and feeling smooth. It quickly turned into a solo run but the kilometres were ticked off in 3:07, 3:20, 3:07, 3:14, 3:05 showing the undulations of the course. I was only really hammering it for the last two k (HR up at 190 for these two kms which is more representative of true 5k effort) as I was keen to get into the hurt box. I finished in 15:52, just one second outside my Course Record that I set the week before the Manchester Marathon a couple of years ago. It was a useful experience and a run that I am pleased with. Whilst slower than Wednesday night it was a lot better and I'd say worth at least 20 seconds on Wednesday's performance given the undulations and breeze.
I then spent the rest of Saturday with Dad and had quite simply one of the happiest days of my life. We don't get to spend much time alone together but it was truly special. We did two of our favourite things; we had a lovely Fish and Chip lunch and then went to the races at Ripon, which we frequently used to do many moons ago. The races weren't too successful (rather akin to my performance mid week!). However we did both get a winner and the best thing was it was for the same horse at 6/1 so we both cheered it home which made for just the perfect day. Simple pleasures but memories that'll last a lifetime.
This morning I was keen to get a bit of quality into my long run and given I'm doing a hilly 10k next week thought I'd get some hills in. With that in mind I proceeded to do 4 laps of 2.1 miles of the local park which is a set on a decent hill after a few miles warming up. The 16 mile run had 1200 feet of ascent which is a decent amount of vert for me. I also finished the run with a couple of miles at MP which came in at 5:26 average.
This coming week will see similar mileage, maybe a touch less but certainly a few easier days, on advice of Mike as I freshen up for a good go at the Great Yorkshire 10k next Sunday.
Pleasingly my aerobic efficiency has improved again, even with the continuation of a few Heat Acclimatisation runs showing that I am adapting quite nicely. Weight is also down another pound too so that's a good sign.
I have recently been pondering my strengths as a runner and why I my ability across the distances don't seem to make sense and I'm starting to draw some conclusions. I think my VO2max may actually be relatively quite poor which results in 'below par' performances at anything 10k or below. That said, I feel I can operate at a very high % of VO2max for half marathons and above. For example Marathon Heart rate is about 91-92% of Max HR which I am lead to believe is quite high (80-85% is more common). So the question is how do I improve VO2max? Mike and I have been trying and I do the odd session that suggests better things but I am coming to the conclusion that VO2Max isn't that trainable, especially not for someone who is now a seasoned runner. And doing some rough calculations it appears that the 'easiest' way to improve this number would be to shed some weight as by definition it's the total amount of oxygen that can be delivered to your muscles, per minute, per kg of body weight. Of course, one cant go on losing weight indefinitely but I do feel I could lose another c10lbs of fat without it impacting on my health and injury proneness. This would see a big uptick in VO2max and perhaps some improved times that would bring my performances more into line? Unfortunately I wont get to test this too much as I am shortly starting the marathon specific phase which means much reduced racing, but ironically should see my weight drop quite a bit!
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