The good is that today's result is my best half marathon time this year at 02:03:36. The bad is that's over 9 minutes slower than my PB set on this course last year.
Of course last year I hadn't run an ultra marathon just five weeks before - which has a lot to do with today's result.
The first 6 miles were fine with my pace actually a little faster than last year. It even felt easier than last year, not feeling like I was even breathing that much harder than I would on an easy run (which fits with my experience of running this pace in training the last few weeks). Then my left knee started to hurt.
I managed to maintain a respectable pace until about mile 9 - which would have brought me in just under the two hour mark. But from then it was a real struggle - I even resorted to walking for a minute at about 11 miles to see if that would ease off the pain. It didn't so I carried on running but now very slowly - more a jog than a run. All of which pushed my time over the two hour mark.
Meanwhile Scott, my running buddy from the Westminster to Cheltenham ultra marathon finished in a very respectable 1 hour 52 minutes.
Oh well, there's always next year.
Showing posts with label Stroud Half Marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stroud Half Marathon. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Friday, 20 October 2017
Brian
Brian the storm, not the snail from the Magic Roundabout. Wonderful timing for Brian to hit the day before the Stroud Half Marathon though hitting on the day itself would have been worse as we'd have had rain as well as strong winds. The worst of Brian should have passed by Sunday morning so it should be dry but it's still going to be quite windy - and cold.
The Met Office are currently forecasting westerly winds of 20 mph, with gusts up to 40mph. The first two miles of the race route head pretty westerly from Stroud before turning north at Stonehouse. The route then heads west again from miles 4 to 6. Once we get to Whitminster just before mile 7 the course then heads east back to Stroud so we'll have the wind on our backs for the second half of the race.
The other thing about the weather is it's forecast to be quite cold - 10C feeling like 7C. At least that's made the decision on what to wear quite easy - long sleeve top, shorts and gloves. Last year it was warmer and I spent hours agonising over long sleeves or short. I even changed twice before the start before going with long sleeves then regretting it about 2 miles into the race.
I've got my three plans ready for the race:
- plan 1 is to finish regardless of the time - highly likely to achieve that unless something really bad happens (really bad things can happen in your head as you can convince yourself you can't finish even when you physically could)
- plan 2 is to finish in under two hours - it's possible to achieve that if nothing goes too badly wrong
- plan 3 is to finish in under 2 hours 55 mins - feels a bit unlikely this year as I've not done enough speed work and I've still got a few residual twinges from the Westminster to Cheltenham run. Plus the wind is going to make the first part of the race hard work and slow things down a bit.
No more runs now before Sunday.
The Met Office are currently forecasting westerly winds of 20 mph, with gusts up to 40mph. The first two miles of the race route head pretty westerly from Stroud before turning north at Stonehouse. The route then heads west again from miles 4 to 6. Once we get to Whitminster just before mile 7 the course then heads east back to Stroud so we'll have the wind on our backs for the second half of the race.
The other thing about the weather is it's forecast to be quite cold - 10C feeling like 7C. At least that's made the decision on what to wear quite easy - long sleeve top, shorts and gloves. Last year it was warmer and I spent hours agonising over long sleeves or short. I even changed twice before the start before going with long sleeves then regretting it about 2 miles into the race.
I've got my three plans ready for the race:
- plan 1 is to finish regardless of the time - highly likely to achieve that unless something really bad happens (really bad things can happen in your head as you can convince yourself you can't finish even when you physically could)
- plan 2 is to finish in under two hours - it's possible to achieve that if nothing goes too badly wrong
- plan 3 is to finish in under 2 hours 55 mins - feels a bit unlikely this year as I've not done enough speed work and I've still got a few residual twinges from the Westminster to Cheltenham run. Plus the wind is going to make the first part of the race hard work and slow things down a bit.
No more runs now before Sunday.
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Nice and steady?
Day 2 of an attempt to find some speed in preparation for the Stroud Half Marathon with a steady paced run.
McMillan Running describes steady paced runs as having an easy to medium effort level. Let's say his description of easy and mine don't have a lot of overlap. I did manage to keep mostly within the target pace range I'd calculated but it was never going to happen running up Pennylands Bank which although it's quite a short hill doesn't take prisoners. I always hope there is lots of traffic at the top of the bank so I can stop on the verge for a breather. I was out of luck tonight and had to keep running, though fortunately there is a slight downhill back into Broadway.
In theory the steady pace is close to the pace I can run a half marathon at. It was fine for today's planned 3 miles but that's less than a quarter of the distance I'll be covering. It's going to be a tough one.
McMillan Running describes steady paced runs as having an easy to medium effort level. Let's say his description of easy and mine don't have a lot of overlap. I did manage to keep mostly within the target pace range I'd calculated but it was never going to happen running up Pennylands Bank which although it's quite a short hill doesn't take prisoners. I always hope there is lots of traffic at the top of the bank so I can stop on the verge for a breather. I was out of luck tonight and had to keep running, though fortunately there is a slight downhill back into Broadway.
In theory the steady pace is close to the pace I can run a half marathon at. It was fine for today's planned 3 miles but that's less than a quarter of the distance I'll be covering. It's going to be a tough one.
Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Tempo Intervals
I've put my entry in for the Stroud Half Marathon later this month. Trouble is with doing so much ultra distance work over the summer I've neglected to do any speed sessions as they really aren't relevant when you are planning to cover 30+ miles in a day. Two weeks is probably a bit short to make any real difference but I've re-started speed sessions.
Today was a tempo intervals session. That means running at a pace just a bit faster than you could sustain for an hour. It's all a bit guesswork on how fast you need to be running athough there are calculators that give ranges based on race results. 4 x 800m intervals with 400 metres jogging between each interval. Overall quite pleased with how it went.
Today was a tempo intervals session. That means running at a pace just a bit faster than you could sustain for an hour. It's all a bit guesswork on how fast you need to be running athough there are calculators that give ranges based on race results. 4 x 800m intervals with 400 metres jogging between each interval. Overall quite pleased with how it went.
Saturday, 30 September 2017
Back Running
The original plan said one day off for every 10 miles run, so I shouldn't have started running again until next Tuesday (3 Oct). But I've been getting more and more frustrated and desperate to run again over the last couple of days. My resting heart rate has settled back into it's normal range. My knees don't hurt any more, not even walking two miles on concrete pavements in hard shoes upset them, though there is still a tiny bit of swelling on my right knee. So today I decided that's it, lets go for a short run and see what happens.
I wasn't looking at my watch as I was just intending to take it easy and see how it went. Then I did look at my watch and it said 8 mins 25 secs a mile. My breathing was nice and easy so I was expecting to see it say 9 min 30 or even 10 min a mile. I thought it must just be a glitch, sometimes if the GPS signal is lost for a few seconds you can get a false reading on the next update. I looked again and it still said 8 mins 25 sec a mile. Maybe I really was running at that pace. Nothing was hurting so I carried on.
The route turns sharply uphill at the just after two miles which slowed things down a bit. I didn't want to push things too hard and get injured so I worked on simply keeping my breathing the same. Compared to the last time I ran this route about 8 weeks ago my average pace this time was 1 min 12 secs a mile faster. All of which is good as it's just three weeks to the Stroud Half Marathon - best get my entry in while there are still places left.
Today's distance - an amazing 2.57 miles (it's important not to overdo things!)
I wasn't looking at my watch as I was just intending to take it easy and see how it went. Then I did look at my watch and it said 8 mins 25 secs a mile. My breathing was nice and easy so I was expecting to see it say 9 min 30 or even 10 min a mile. I thought it must just be a glitch, sometimes if the GPS signal is lost for a few seconds you can get a false reading on the next update. I looked again and it still said 8 mins 25 sec a mile. Maybe I really was running at that pace. Nothing was hurting so I carried on.
The route turns sharply uphill at the just after two miles which slowed things down a bit. I didn't want to push things too hard and get injured so I worked on simply keeping my breathing the same. Compared to the last time I ran this route about 8 weeks ago my average pace this time was 1 min 12 secs a mile faster. All of which is good as it's just three weeks to the Stroud Half Marathon - best get my entry in while there are still places left.
Today's distance - an amazing 2.57 miles (it's important not to overdo things!)
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