5K with a dead weight

Tried a quick 5K with Millie the dog and her new wonder leash. I had to almost drag her the whole way round. I think he might be carrying an injury as she is normally pretty fast. Weight down at 74.8KG. Its ben as high as 78KG in the last 2 weeks...some wild swings.

10K Running Through the Dust clouds....

Team Kennedy manager is bashing out the miles running with the dog using her new dog joggers lead. This is providing me with lots of peer pressure style motivation as I'm worried if I don't keep up the miles she'll be putting it on me to get me off the sofa. Nice sunny day with a cool wind from the east, no jets in the sky. Viva la Volcano.

First couple of K's felt OK and I soon got into a nice confortable rhythm. Stereophonics in my headphones banging out TROUBLE Right click that link and imagine me sweating my guts out up M.Hedgehog...what a song !!!!

Anyway back on topic, 5K drops on in 24:28 which isn't too bad. I was wiped out at the top of the hill as I'd kept the pace high all the way up and recovery took 2-300M along the flat.

Tried to just keep concentrating about length of stride, step cadence and height of foot. Long, swift and low....long, swift and low...swooping a few mm's above the tarmac...I find my mind wanders to work and all sorts of other BS. I try fantasizing about finishing a long race and that helps for a few hundred metres. Its amazing the stuff that goes through your head while out running.

Anyway....pace felt OK and I was keeping my concentration for a fair bit of the time. Kicked with about 1500M to go and managed to maintain a pace just below the point where I'm losing my breath.

Finished in 49.58.7 so under 50 minutes but a close run thing.

5K Leg stretcher

Out yesterday evening with Team Kennedy manager for a quick 5K with one of the dogs who needs to lose a bit of weight. Nothing too fast or strenuous. Lazy weekend left me feeling guilty. Might try a quick 5K or 10K tonight.

18 carat 18K

Big run due as I've been doing mostly 10K's and also I had a very lazy week this week so I needed to make amends. Cool day at about 6C with a little wind from the East. First 5K was 25:10 and it was at a pace that recognised I was going longer. I was OK at the top of the Hedgehog and continued onto Ohain and the next hill.

My left thigh felt a bit stiff for the next 3-4K but it eventually eased or was replaced by knee pain. At the 11K timing point at Butte Du Lion I'm there in 59:20 and was really happy I'd dipped under the hour mark for the first time this year.

This spurred me on and I tried to concentrate on keeping the pace up and soon enough I was at the farm turn back to Lasne around 2:18 which I knew was close to my best for the year at this point.

I kept trying to keep the pace going and I felt great on the flats and uphill sections. As ever the downhill sections give me problems. The final climb up the last steep hill was difficult but I felt great cardio wise and was only carrying some tiredness in my legs. I decided to kick for the end with about 800M to go and kept a really quick pace up all the way to the end. I think the shorter faster training has helped my ability to up the pace a bit. I finished in 1:35:40 which is the quickest time for that route for me this year.

I was really puffing at the finish and after a shower and a drink I had a wee 40 winks rest on the couch watching Fabian Cancellara burst a gut and scoop the Paris-Roubaix after taking Tour de Flanders last week.It wasn't as exciting as last year but he is just in a league of his own at the moment. Boonen didn't have an answer to the sprint with just 50K to go.

We're out for dinner tonight and I think I deserve it after a great shift. Weight after the run is back at 76.3KG and was 76.6KG pre run.

A weak week

Travelling from Tuesday to Thursday, in England. Tuesday night I manage a Vindaloo Jalfrezi with Peshwari Naan and poppadoms and spicy onions. Two pints of Kingfisher and pint of Guinness. I watch Arsenal getting put out of the Champions league by a rather classy Barcelona side. I'm amazed to see at least 4 Arsenal tops in the pub in Lichfield which must be 150 miles from London. I walk back to the hotel and enjoy an good nights sleep interupted by heartburn and a near death experience level of thirst...Clearly 10 years of living abroad has taken the edge off my curry handling abilities.

I'm better prepared for Wednesday night. I pick up a hamburger and chips pre match from an English chippy. This is more of a cultural challenge for a Scot than I could have imagined. I was hoping from Black Pudding and forlornly wishing for a Haggis.

They didn't do chippy(deep fried) Pizza. The Sausage looked weird(Its local made !!), smoked sausage wasn't bent in the middle, they had never heard of mince pies(pardon !!) and the Steak pies had kidney(barf)in them. .

Fish was Cod or Pollock which left me thinking of something that rhymed with the latter. Have these folk never tried Haddock. This left me the Hobson's choice of Hamburger supper(sorry with chips). I think the girl behind the counter was left a little stunned by my long winded interrogation of their wares and having to concentrate intently on my accent. Bizarrely they wrapped chips and burger separately which was difficult to work though as I walked to the pub.

I take in Champions league qtr final and see Manchester United going out to a well organised Bayern Munchen who despite going down 2-0 in the first six minutes never really looked out of it. Its amazing how many Manchester United fans live in Lichfield, almost as many Bayern fans by the sounds of the pub. Three pints of Guinness and an aborted pint of Becks Vier and I'm up the road to the hotel again. This time in much better condition than the night before...

I'm back late Thursday and decide on a run on Friday. I weigh myself before the run and see I'm at 77.8Kg which is 2.2KG heavier than my normal and pretty stable 75.6kg. I think the pub and champions league training sessions need to be spaced out a bit more.

Its a great day and no wind and nice sunny but not too warm an evening.I'm out for 10K
and find the first 5 quite hard work, I'm at the 5K mark at the top of the hill in 24:30. Not exactly a flying time. I don't know if it was just mental but I actually felt heavy when I'm running.

I finished in a tired 50.01 and felt pretty whacked. There was no wind so no weather excuses. You don't need to be Einstein to work it out.

Eggciting

Easter Sunday, a bit of a long lie for a holiday weekend. After breakfast we had our usual egg chase round the house where Team Kennedy Manager hides various chocolate goodies and Wallis and I seek them out.

At that point I decided I wouldn't run today and I settled in to the papers and a cup of tea. I managed a Creme Egg and half a Flake, nothing but the best in my athletic diet. I started to feel a bit funny round the house and knew I was craving a run but it was crappy weather with wind and sporadic rain showers.

I eventually decided to get out and just take on a 10K to get it out of my system. I set out quick and felt pretty good and my pace felt quite quick. At 5K at the top of the Hedgehog hill I was at 23:20, which I think is quickest to date this year and although I felt tired I knew it would be only 500M or so along the flat to feel better and get my breath back.

Sure enough I'm feeling better by the time I reach the roundabout, although my legs felt a bit shakey. I did fantasize at that point about having finished a second Creme egg as my jelly legs were telling me I was short of something. It soon passed.

Run back was easier than last time as the wind was a lot quieter than Friday and coming from the North across my right to left so felt pretty weak. I came to the top of the plateau at 40 minutes and knew I would be close my my best time.

At about 1KM to go I upped the pace and managed to keep that up till the end. I could probably have started my kick a bit earlier as I had a little bit left at the end and had finished in 49:19 which is 30 seconds faster than my best time on that route and distance this year. Its not massive progress but its progress and I feel that if I keep up my training level that improvement will continue.

And Repeat.....

You can see a pattern emerging here. I'm changing my training routine round to have 2 or 3 shorter and hopefully faster runs during the week and a long one at the weekend. I just wanted to see if an adjustment away from pure length and endurance training to speed will improve my overall speeds at half marathon and 10K distances.

Same 10K route today but it was very windy and much more constantly there, again from the West with some nice rain and hail mixed in.

I started quick and tried to concentrate on long strides as this has proven in the past to speed up my times considerably, despite it feeling odd. I was at the top of Hedgehog hill in 23:57 and was pretty tired but the turn and flat run at the top had me recovered within 500M. The turn was however straight into the wind, so wind is now in my face for almost all of the run back.

I can definately feel the ability to breath much easier than last week and much more deeply, although I only feel that naturally I fill about 75% of my lung capacity when I'm running. If I force it I can get much more air in but I'm not sure if that actually helps as it slows down my breaths per minute.

At 7K mark I got a bit of a second wind as I was sheltered between the trees.

As I emerged from the trees with just under 2.5K to go I got a blast of wind straight in my face from right across the open fields. It took my breath away. I knew the run in would be very hard now and as I climbed the hill to the top of the plateau the wind increased as did the rain and hail. It was hard just to keep going straight into it and I was glad I had my sunglasses on to protect my eyes from the hail.

My legs were getting stiff from the cold and I was struggling to keep a rhythm up with the constant battering of the wind. As I dropped to the last 700M I get more shelter from a small wood and it feels like someone has switched on an electric fire as the heat from the sun reaches me. I purposely avoided looking at my watch on the run in as it puts me off. I just kept driving the last 700M and finished in 50:26 which is a littled over Tuesday's outing but given the wind speed I think it was a fair session. It certainly felt harder during it but I was less wiped out right at the end.