Pre Birthday 10K

Did a quick 10K on Friday night to try and keep my eye in before any birthday excess. It was hot and I'd been sitting around my office all day so I was pretty stiff and tired. I got round in 52:25 which is slower than last Sunday but it was pretty well measured and I'd not really been well prepared for it food or energy wise.

Lichfield 1 hour

Ran for an hour round Lichfield. Did 3 circuits of the big pond and managed to drop my time on each circuit. 6 mins to 5:40 to 5:20. I was impressed by my ability to up the pace as I'm usually pretty single paced. I'm not sure of whole distance but certainly a bit in excess of 10K. Shower in hotel would not run cold so trying to cool down was a bit of a farce.

10K number 2

10K in 50:58 so an improvement on Friday's time. I wasn't as tired this time at the end but it was still hard work and I would not have wanted to keep going.

Post Holiday excess....

8 weeks or so to go till First monster race in Inverness. Just back from two weeks vacation in Scotland and 1 week at work in Birmingham. Big weigh in shows I've put on nearly 3Kg's. I did do some cycling , walking and one 10K run during my two weeks vacation but clearly the highlife has been overwhelming this.

First 10K on return was torture, 54:46 was the time and I thought I was going to faint at the end.....

Scorchio !!!

Phew 25C today and nice and sunny...Another typical day en Belgique....:O)....Been stuck in front of PC screen most of the day and then caught second half of a surprisingly boring Brasil-Portugal match. Between the heat, the poor game and the sitting about I was feeling a bit lethargic. A little bit of evening cloud was taking away the worst of the sun so a quick 10K to start the weekend with a bang rather than a whimper.



First 5K were testy to say the least and I felt I started out a bit quick and was having to pull myself in. I was at the top of Hedgehog hill and panting in 25:31. So pretty average. The hill drained me a fair bit and I took a while to recovery. Sweat nipping my eyes just adding to the discomfort. I got to 7.5K in about 40 minutes. I tried to kick a bit but i was really struggling and it was as much as I could do to keep one foot following the other. Finished in 53:12 which is hardly olympic standard. Glad I did it though and its another 10K in the Bank Baby ......

Back on the Chain gang

10K Sunday run. Started off slower than Saturday and was at 5K in 25:35 with little stress at the top of the hill. Its amazing how much difference 1 minute makes when running 5K. I managed to keep my concentration better for the last 5K than on Saturday and overall it felt much less ragged round the edges.

I caught sight of a guy in the distance with about 3K to go and tried to up my pace to ctacxh him. I made up about half the distance but never quite caught him. I had a few moments of back pain on the last 2K and it felt like it was coming from my hip. Not sure if its serious but it was painful but only for a few seconds at a time. I finished in 51:38...so not a lot of difference.

Feet still sore and I have blisters on my blisters.....

10K deja vu

10K run on Saturday, same route as normal. I started off quite fast as I felt I lagged it a bit the other day as I wasn't timing myself. I was 24:20 for 5K at the top of Hedgehog hill which is quite pacy and I was feeling it. Although it wasn't too warm I had a long sleeve top on and that was keeping things at the top end of the thermometer.

Once up the hill and on the flat I recovered reasonably quickly and just kept plodding along. I did notice that my mind was wandering a lot to things other than running. I think as you run more you manage to keep your mind much more focussed on run itself, rather than on solving the problems of the world.

I finished in 51:26 which is pretty average for me. Sore feet at the end and the startings of a few small blisters on the middle of my right foot and on my toes. Again I think due ot lack of match practice :O)