Training Log Archive: Mark3

Got up 4:30am - pretty tough.

Other than that, really good fun. Sedate pace, so probably could have carried on a bit further; definitely another 10k or so to get to half way.

Fingers extremely cold despite being wam otherwise.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move48668642

C • Holy crap! 1

I am not good at this sport.

Suspect I won't be able to lift my arms tomorrow...2x parkrun should be interesting!

Happy new year :)

"Miles" at Stoke Lodge followed by "seasonal fare".

The "mile" has had a park built on it, apparently, so it turns out it's now 1450m. Still felt like a long way!

5:18,5:20,5:20,5:20 (check out that consistency)

Pace about 3:40 which isn't great, but was
-on grass
-on a hill
-in melting frosty grass
so maybe okay, considering.

"Seasonal fare" was excellent.
http://www.movescount.com/moves/move48566533

Felt pretty ill throughout the morning so decided on blue rather than brown - sensible choice. 1st/37 although a bit undeserved.

1st or 2nd on all splits upto #12. Then #13 tried to go straight and got stuck in brambles etc; 30s lost. Should have planned in advance to go round the path. And #14, really struggled getting out of #13 getting stuck in stuff, came out somewhere a bit unexpected. 1 min lost.

Then the major mistakes - AP for #15 200m away; too far (holly bush in the middle of many holly bushes). Relocated from marginally closer AP (150m) and found okay. Not sure what I could have done here; it was a horrible area. +3:30.

#16 bad route choice; annoyed from #15 and didn't want to mess up again, so went a lot way round rather than straight. There were long-way-round path options available that were better than the one I chose as well! +1min.

So interesting that all 4 mistakes are in a row.
1:30 bramble related
3:30 bad AP
1:00 route choice
= 6 mins lost.
No wonder the points weren't very good...could have been 1290 without these mistakes :(

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move48566538

http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...

Beeston parkrun. Tougher than usual in the 1 inch of snow; made a noticeable different to everyone.

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/beeston/results/weeklyre...

Gentle run around Wollaton park since eating quite a lot over Christmas and feel the need to do something active every day!

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move48112256

C • If still about Sunday 2

Merry Christmas!

2nd fastest 5k ever, in theory, so a bit dubious about the length given there was a surprise little hill up to the canal (?).

Felt good really, had I known the course and known how close to the end I was, definitely could have gone a bit quicker.

Pushed pretty hard up the hill and managed to maintain some speed at the top, which is definitely positive for me :)

Run with David around Longshaw. Was going to be longer, but we didn't plan it very well and ended up back at the carpark sooner than expected. Probably for the best since it started raining soon after! But very good for running when we were out.

Movescount is broken (but Suunto have a very apologetic note on their website, so that's okay)

Interval session with Ripley running club on a section of cycle path which was ostensibly 800m long (but Suunto consistently thinks 650m so I'm going with that). On a hill.

8*650m (90s)

2:19, 2:16, 2:20, 2:22 (uphill)
2:10, 2:10, 2:11, 2:10 (downhill)

works out about 3:20 downhill and 3:35 uphill; reasonably consistent at least

Had been looking forward to this since it should be less orienteering and more running since it's my most-visited orienteering area (c.10 events I think).

Unfortunately, made a mistake on #24; took easy path route which was slightly longer, but went nowhere near far enough along the path due to lack of AP. Maybe 1.5 mins lost? Really annoying.

3rd when I left behind Rich Robinson and Andy Llewellyn - unsurprisingly - but would have been nice if the gap to them was a bit smaller.

Quite a good course with a butterfly loop at the start to keep it interesting.

Got myself on another 'first finisher' list in a lot more respectable time than at Newent :)

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/colwick/results/weeklyre...

Good running conditions other than quite windy in places.

Really well pace which is unusual for me:
3:39, 3:40, 3:41, 3:44, 3:41, extra 12 secs

Still not sure what a tempo run is but this probably was one.

Short session as didn't fancy 24*200m, so just did 1200, 600, 600, 1200 with 400m jog in between each

1200s: 4:08, 4:15 (3:23, 3:30)
600s: 1:55, 1:57 (3:12, 3:13)

2nd 1200 a bit slow. Would like to be doing them at 3:20 and the 600s at 3:10.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47773717

Skiing practice for Feb - tried out some new skis from the shop to avoid the rubbish rental skis - not too bad but not as nice as my current skis; which is good since that saves some money!

Tried out the boxes (snowpark things that you ski over sidewards and look cool) with mixed success.

No achilles pain during entire session :)
Still pretty bad in mornings though unfortunately

3*1200 (2 mins), 3*800 (90s), 3*400 (1 min)

1200s (pace): 3:20, 3:24, 3:24 [ran about 1180 on 2nd and 3rd rep before whistle]

800s: 2:42 (3:17), 2:48 (3:25), 2:48 (3:24). Killed myself on the first one trying to stay with a group, then found the next two unbelievable hard work

400s: 75 (3:07), 77 (3:10), 76 (3:12) Not too bad at the end of a 6.2k effort session

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47649812

C • you...... 2

BOK won!

I did not count.

More to follow

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47572423

Pleased with this; equally Ashton Court PB which was set in July when I was probably around my fittest - this means I've got back to where I was aerobic-wise after the 2 month hiatus. Now just need to cure the achilles...

Interesting maybe to compare the pace with (last time):
4:04 (4:02)
4:37 (4:33)
3:48 (3:47)
3:16 (3:20)
3:07 (3:12)

slower up; faster down. But probably not statistically significant.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47486782

Not feeling it today; a bit rainy and pretty windy, no one really around my speed, no one there who I usually talk to

6*1k on whistle at 3:20; ended up between 950 and 980m. Recovery 50% (1:40)

Pace: 3:26, 3:31, 3:29, 3:34, 3:29, 3:31

Not awful but not great. Should probably have done all 8.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47294294

6 * [600m (200m jog in 90s), 400m (400m jog in 3mins)]

After doing the medium group for a few weeks, its quite a lot harder in the fast group! Nearly didn't do the last one but made myself.

600s in 1:59,2:01,2:00,2:02,2:01,2:02 (3:14 - 3:25) <--hey, those are ok
400s in 75,76,77,76,78,77 (3:03 - 3:20) <--not too bad either

Need to up my expectations otherwise going to be happy all the time - can't have that.

Need to work on pacing just a tad, as the quickest 600 is at a faster pace than the slowest 400.

Wore tights. Temperature didn't justify this.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47167259#navig...

Great course. Lots of tough route choices; many of which I think I got wrong. Definitely kept you thinking, and not much time to plan ahead due to the steep slippery slopes.

2nd/33 - nice to beat Clive although he did lose 6 mins on a leg which I won, so as usual he's still faster/more consistent over the rest.

Always nice to be ahead of Phil :)

Bit disappointed to be so far down on Tim - seems to be mainly (2/3rds of the 6 mins) down to route choice;
1-2 +1min
12-13 +1min
13-14 +1min
20-21 +1min

Interesting since I thought these were ok at the time. Looking at them now though
1-2 think it's best to go down the path via 12, whereas I went via 5
12-13 think it's best straight back up and round via 29; I went via 27
13-14 Tried to cut corner up from 16; actually I think this is ok but just badly implemented
20-21 30s of this is getting stuck in the graveyard, but I think Richard's route of down and through the river by 25 is fastest

No real mistakes otherwise really. Pleased to be only 2s down on #6 which I was worried was the slower choice (through the houses) and to win #11 (which reminded of the XC yday; flat and grassy, but felt SO much slower; luckily I guess everyone was slower after coming up the hill)

Didn't know where I'd come out up to #14; should have been paying more attention to compass but was too busy trying not to slide back down the hill. Relocated on 15's earthbank (which is how I won that split...) so must have come up between the crags due S of 16; not what I'd intended.


Overtook Zac at some point on 14 I think, but he got past me again when I got stuck in the graveyard (mapped as high wall; but it's not that much thicker than pavement edge! Fell foul of not being an urban spec map; can't complain but a bit annoying)

Ran with him 21,22,23 (just about managed to stay with him up the hill to 23, I think he was keen to stay ahead [we were 1 and 2 on this split]) but then I took the longer less steep route down to 24 and was coming out ahead, but he saw me running toward the tree and put in a massive effort to get there first. I hoped he'd gone a bit too early and I was right; I let him punch slightly ahead of him 25 and 26 but then put my own effort in on 27 to gain 5secs and stay ahead to the finish. Really good battle (helped by the fact I knew he'd started 3 mins before me!)

He's going to be very hard to beat when he gets a bit taller.

Performance of the day goes to Eddie Narbett; no idea who he is but to be 3 mins off Clive as an M16 is pretty good going.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move47045721

C • no 28 5

Weather much nicer that last time at Brecon (ie - I didn't get hypothermia).

Enjoyed it more than the last XC as well - much better paced, km times all between 3:47 and 4:04 despite the twistyness and the hills.

Came 91st out of unknown field size (300?) which if true would probably be my best XC result. Beat Chris Beck by 30s or so which hasn't happened for a while.

The Suunto told me I need 36 hours to recover, so Blaise might be interesting tomorrow.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move46986351

Medium group - mini reverse pyramid; 1200m, 600m, 300m, 600m, 1200m

1200: 4:02 (3:20 pace)
600: 1:54 (3:09)
300: 50 (2:45)
600: 1:55 (3:11)
1200: 4:11 (3:31)

All pretty good apart from the last 1200m; would have been even worse if I hadn't thought my colleague was just behind me - had to do quite a lot in the last 200m.

Although actually he was safely 40s or something behind, so that was all right.

Struggled with the jog recovery prevalent in the middle group; the fast group is usually a stationary recovery which is shorter, but my HR goes down more.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move46799843

8 * 500m (300m jog) 'medium' group - the quick group was road miles which I'm currently avoiding

500s in: 95,96,94,95,96,94,94,93

Pretty well paced; aiming to stay within 10m or so of the front guy who was a 17 min 5k runner

Had to work pretty hard by the end, although probably could have done a couple more if forced.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move46663471#navig...