Training Log Archive: Nathan

Event: Yvette Baker Trophy Final
 

Easy jogging and stretching pre race.

Yvette Baker Trophy Final Green 4.8km 80m.

Short(ish) course today, but was always going to be a lot longer due to having to go around. Felt ok before hand but very hot and dry, so was going to be tough. Started ok, found 1 but not as cleanly as i would have wanted. 2 was a stupid control basically had to get past a wall of green. Lost time here but not sure how much but everyone lost time so really it was just a case of making it as little as possible. Flowed well through 3&4, no navigation needed really. Found 5 well, good route i think, sloppy on 6 didn't stick to my bearing so relocated off the dot knoll, but lost ~1min. Straight to 7, but lost time again ~30-~45 secs then easy through 8, slipped in the circle but nothing major. 9&10 were fine, good routes and running up the hill. Didn't go far enough on 11 so lost a tad bit of time, then 12 was easy and out in to the open on 13 which i found fine. Opted for the path in to 14 which i think was faster as there were no paths at this time. 15, 16, 17 were all just running across a field so really no issue. Got to the road crossing, felt very hot and tired, dry throat as it was pretty dusty and polleny, so took advantage of the break. Shot off to 19, found it easily then in to 20 which i thought was too far left but found it ok then 21, 22, 23 were all on paths and in to the finish was fine.
Wasn't actually very happy with my race, felt sluggish and scrappy in the circles and general decision making was hesitant. Still, finished 2nd overall, ~1:50 behind Matt Elk, but ~20secs ahead of Will. I guess today was more or less about keeping the time loss to a minimum, so i guess that's what i did in comparison to everyone else.
Need to concentrate much better, and learn to ignore external factors, today for example, it was the heat.
OD won, so a good result for the club.

Easy ride in the evening, lovely day for it.

http://www.leioc.routegadget.co.uk/leioc/reitti.cg...
Route Gadget from tuesday (GPS Long)

Nice loop, frolesworth, ashby then home. Was very hot today, really made me work, hot and sticky, lovely. Didn't really put any effort in because of YBT tomorrow. Feeling pretty good about it.

Quick burn out before going out with friends tonight. Decided t half the run in to intense(ish) effort and gentle recovery after the last few days. Felt good for the effort, around 4.5k, but then fell apart after. Felt really ill, and hay fever and general allergy to the world kicked in which meant that i was coughing and spluttering along the rest. Need to get to the doctors and check these allergies out because they're holding me back and have been for a while i just haven't thought to mention it.

Similar warm up to monday but with more drills to get the legs working so slightly shorter.

Same set as on Monday down at Jubilee, 8x400m, was going to do 10x but with going to the gym again this evening didn't want to risk overdoing it. Felt a bit more comfortable today, no stitch but towards the end, began losing my form so need to work on keeping my style solid throughout. However, also worked on keeping my times a little more even, so to do this i knew i might have to go a smidgen slower just to keep in control. Times:

1:19.3 1:17.9 1:18.5 1:18.0 1:16.8 1:17.1 1:19.1 1:19.3

Much happier with the range today, if i'm honest, i could have pushed harder but i wanted to keep in control of what i was doing. Also very hot, yet still wet, today so this may also have attributed to the slightly slower times.

Very easy trundle home.

Similar gym session to monday, 2k warm up on the rower, then circuits for 40mins on arms and core, focusing on abs and chest and biceps, then 1k row to warm down. Felt pretty good.

Been in town and school concert so no time to train. Long run and gym tomorrow.

Easy jogging along the road as there wasn't really anywhere to warm up.

Long course 4.8km 150m
Middle distnce race at Burrough Hill, always enjoy this area, surprisingly technical despite what the map looks like. Thought I'd try a few things me and Emily had been talking about in the last week or so about maintaining focus and i think it went well. Flowed very well through 1-3, slightly poor route choice to 5, should have cut around the hill through the woods but no matter, executed my route well. Gorse bushes were thicker than I'd expected so route choice had to be altered to go all the way around because i misjudged the path i was heading for. Still, again, on the route i found it surprisingly well. Went well again through 6 then in to the other section of woods (reminded me very much of Scotland). Easy control in all honesty through 7-9 but couldn't see 8 as it was craftily placed behind a tree. Good route to 10, going up early instead of up and around and found it well but lost a little time on entry. Easy down to 11, but overshot so lost a few more seconds. Good through 12-13 opting to go round than battering through more gorse. Well through 14, easy up the hill. Lost time on 15 because it was a lot more vague than i'd anticipated and a lot more overgrown so eventually found it on a platform that wasn't mapped. Gruelling climd straight up the hill to 16 but actually ran it quite well. Easy across the top to 17 then up the path to 18 and finish.
Overall time loss I would imagine, at the pace i was running, was anywhere between 1:30 2 minutes, if i'm being really picky. Overall though pleased with where my fitness is at the minute despite the fact i missed a good 3-4 months solid base training at the start of the year. Navigation/concentration was good but could be better later on in the course but i think i will concentrate better in big races.

Outline for the next few weeks. YBT on saturday, after the end of this weeks training, that's really the last event until the Scottish. Then next week, more of the same as this week. Off to Turkey a week on Friday for 10 days, so going to get some solid training done out there, then Cairngorm, so hoping to iron out the last few creases in my technique before the Scottish, selection races for EYOC.

Easy jog as a warm down.

Heading down to Jubilee for some intervals, down the road then a lap or two of the field to warm up and a few stretches.

Down at the old, disused railway for some intervals. Legs were feeling pretty good but upper body felt heavy and sluggish. Battled with a stitch for the last 4 so this was a bit of a struggle. Did 8x400m with 1 min recovery, times:
1:13 1:17 1:18 1:21 1:19 1:17 1:20 1:19
Clearly started way too fast but then settled in better, still, times are more varied than I'd have liked, would have preferred a range of 1-2secs rather than 4secs but pace was pretty good and didn't feel dead at the end so pretty happy. Lovely day for it as well.
Heading to the gym this evening, also going to get far more s&c done to try and sort out this sluggishness, especially in my core.

Easy trundle home.

Headed to the gym to give my arms and core a good battering. Many many reps of abs/chest exercises and a heavy dose of arm work, really making myself work. Pleased with the efforts today and have really enjoyed it.