Two laps of Langdon Hill yesterday afternoon. Still not sure I should be running at all, but doesn’t seem to be getting any worse. Or better come to that.
Still muddy at the Southern end of the loop, so walked through that. Not much else to report really.
Cya.
As promised did a shorter but quicker run this morning. Pretty cold as usual, mainly due to the brisk northerly(?) breeze. Just did a couple of laps round the Langdon Hill loop which has some up and down, but not too much. Enough flat stuff to maintain a quicker pace at times which is what I was after.
Only did 4.5km, but at an average of 5m 22 per km pace, with a quick last km of 4m 53s. I’m really hoping that when I do the Southbourne 10k race in three and a half weeks, I’ll be able to maintain a pace somewhere around 5m to 5m 10s per km. First intention is to beat the 51m 29s from Boscombe 10k, but I really want to get down as close to 50m as I can. I’m hoping they don’t call it ‘flat and fast’ for nothing.
Now according to the gadget, there was actually 205m of ascent in total over the two laps this morning. I’m starting to have some doubts about how accurate this figure is. I’ve noticed that my 9km weekend run that I have done three times recently had 499m, 528m or 537m of ascent depending on which week you choose. Go figure.
Didn’t run mid-week, wanted to give my right calf a bit of extra time to recover. Seems ok for now.
Usual 9km loop today, but after the heavy rain of the last few days, and what with the warmer weather thawing out the last of the ice, it was a tad muddy out there. There’s a narrow bit that heads downhill between two fields on the way back along the coast. No idea how I stayed on my feet, it was like a muddy chute.
For what it’s worth I did it in just over 1hr 6m, but when conditions are so sticky there’s not much point in trying to time it. I lose time trying to walk round the mud or through the least deep bit, but also running through the mud must sap my energy too. On the plus side it means I have to work harder, so maybe there’s a benefit somewhere in the long run. I’m still enjoying it, I like the hills, but I also need to find somewhere nearby that’s relatively flat and dry to get some speedwork in before Southbourne, otherwise I’ll never be able to run at the pace I need.
Did come across a good samaritan today! I was running round the lanes heading toward Langdon Hill car-park, when I turned a corner to find the lane flooded. No way round it and about eight inches deep. Now I don’t mind a bit of mud, but there’s no way I want water in my trainers thank you very much even if that makes me a wuss. (I try to avoid races with names like Grim, Grizzly and Full Death Experience) Anyway, so I’m stood there thinking ok how far do I back-track, when the hourly car that you get on this lane just happens by. Very kind lady offered to drive me across the lake. Result. Run resumed. So thank you lady wherever you are.
Should manage a short run mid-week.
Short run today. Had planned just to do some speed work round Langdon Hill, but it was way too popular with walkers, etc. Had a job finding a parking space. So decided on a hilly loop up Golden Cap, down the other side and back along the road. Lane was a bit icy, but managed to stay upright. Right wrist still hurts a bit from the fall I had on the ice a month ago. No idea what I did, but it only seems to be getting better very slowly. Ligaments or something I suppose.
Found it hard work again, particularly on the calf muscles. Then again I did do 350m of climb in a 5k run.
Five weeks to Southbourne 10k. Looking forward to running on the flat!
Decided that I ought to get out, snow or not. Fortunately we’ve only had half an inch of the stuff so it wasn’t that bad. Main problem is all the icy side roads and pavements. Only practical place to run today was round the woods at Langdon Hill again, although getting up the lane to it was a bit of fun in our little Yaris. One of those days where you’re really glad that there’s nothing coming the other way.
The track round the woods wasn’t too bad, mostly running on packed snow so grip was reasonable. Wore beanie hat and gloves today and was perfectly warm enough. Did three laps, 6.54km, 36m 52s, 5m 36s per k average. Can’t afford not to run as I’m still hoping to set a PB in the Southbourne 10k in less than two months time.
Not sure if I’ll get out again this week, more snow forecast for Tuesday or Wednesday.
Decided to squeeze in a quick run this morning after seeing the dire weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow. So far we have escaped all snow down here, it’s just been icy with clear blue skies. However, if you believe the Met Office then tonight and tomorrow morning we are due for an ‘extreme weather event’. Yeah right, believe that when I see it. Chances are that being on the coast we’ll get next to nothing. We’ll just have to wait and see. As long as I can get to and from Poker tonight at The Clock in Chideock I don’t care.
Anyway, did a couple of laps around Langdon Hill. Short run, but worked hard and felt it was definitely worth doing. Still determined to keep running twice a week if possible from now on.
Sent off my entry form today for the Southbourne 10k on March 7th.
The gales are back, so as I was looking for a short run today I decided to do a couple of laps around the woods on Langdon Hill. On the plus side, the trees provided some shelter from the wind. On the downside, all the trees meant that my Garmin lost satellite reception halfway round the first lap. That was a shame as I was keen to monitor my pace today and try and get used to the pace I need to run on Sunday.
I want to beat 53m for the Boscombe 10k, so my plan is to try and run at about 5m 10s per kilometer pace. That’s pretty fast for me, and I’m not sure if I can sustain it. The course looks fairly flat, just one hill after about 6k with an ascent around 30m or so. Shouldn’t make too much difference to me after all my hill work. Even my normal short run contains over 250m of climb. More worried about the conditions. Looks like the forecast is wet and windy again. Need it to blow through quicker than forecast, just like Ilminster.
I said somewhere before that I couldn’t remember my 10k PB. Well did some digging and found that at the Heanor 10k Xmas Pud run in 2005 (we all got Xmas puds at the end instead of medals) my official time was 51m 1s. Can’t get close to that at the moment, but we’ll see how it goes in the Spring.
Wish me luck. I’d tell you what number to look out for, but I haven’t received it yet. Hope they’ve got one put by for me on the day.
After a day of battening hatches and generally lying low, today was remarkably runner friendly. My intention to go for a run yesterday was quickly abandoned, mainly due to storm force winds strong enough to blow a tree down and block the road. I actually went for a walk down to the beach as I had to go to the post office anyway, and the beach car-park was predictably a right mess. Fortunately it was low tide so I didn’t have to run any great risk, but as I was stood there at an angle of 45 degrees into the wind it did occur to me that maybe if I got hit by a bit of flying 2 by 4 hurtling off the beach, then it probably wouldn’t be good for my running plans. Where the car-park meets the beach there’s a line of free-standing concrete blocks, roughly pyramid shaped and about a foot high. Well yesterday they had been blown all over the place by the wind, waves and flying pebbles.
Anyway, that was yesterday and today is just so different it’s hard to believe. Almost no wind, bright sunshine, and according to the car, 17 degrees centigrade. Went for a longish run of just under 10k, in just under 1hr 9m. Average 6m 58s per kilometer. Found a very pleasant path that runs through the woods on Langdon Hill, but also tried a shortcut back which turned out to be an ascent of a grassy hill with an incline of about 45 degrees. Not going that way again. Oh, and as I was running past the farm at Upcot (Upcot Farm?), I saw a field of new-born lambs. Now I know the weather is milder down here and spring comes early, but mid-November??
Short run probably Thursday, then Boscombe 10k Sunday. Haven’t received a number in the post, so guess I collect it on the day.
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