Running from Zombies

My Monday posts are likely to get a bit technical, now that I’m trying to work on my 10k times I’m paying more attention to how fast I am throughout my run. Feel free to do what Scribs does and just ignore all the numbers :-)

Monday: I wanted to know just how much of an effect my slow attempt at the hills in Sutton Park had on my 10k time so I took Charlie the Garmin. I started off well, at tempo pace, running the first 3 kms in 6’05″ (warm up), 5’48″ and 5’46″. I did the next 3 kms at base pace and still managed to get to the half way point at 30’29″. I thought I was going to be able to keep it up for the full 10k but I got a stitch at the 7th km and ran a 7’00″ and a 7’39″ km, bringing my final time to 64’42″. Still pleased that it was 3 minutes quicker than before though.

Tuesday: I was determined to do better than Monday, so I headed out for another 10k. Started with a strong 3k again, then slowed down a bit to attempt to maintain something around the 6’10″ mark (thank you virtual training man) but was let down again by my 7th and 8th km (6’54″ and 6’37″). Still, I did better than yesterday, managing to get home for 62’17″! Very happy!

Thursday: Cold and wet today (of course, it starts raining the second I step outside) meant that I had fleeting feeling in my fingers and toes and an excess of snot (thanks to raynauds and asthma respectively). I had already decided on a leisurely 5k but decided to try a negative split in an attempt to get used to a faster pace. I made it home in 29’29″, which I’m reasonably pleased with (for a training session that was planned whilst doing it anyway!)

Friday: I fully intended to do a 10k at base pace today but my legs were sluggish and heavy and I found myself jogging instead of running. I decided that if I wasn’t going to maintain a decent pace then I would at least put some effort into the distance and so managed 12k in 78’07″.

Sunday: Ally and I went back to Sutton Park and did the same route as last time. Knowing that I could push myself more than last time I set out with the intention of letting myself speed up on the downhills to compensate for the slow uphills. I made it to 5k in a little over half an hour and then to 6k in a little over 36 minutes. I decided to give it everything I had and try to break the hour mark. I got to 9.1km at 55 minutes and still some hills to go but I really went for it and managed to get to 10k in 59’50″. I now know that I can do it, so it’s just a case of repeating that in 3 weeks time!

Total Run: 47km

Good news all round this week – I feel like I’m really getting somewhere with my 10k times. Unfortunately we also have some bad news. Claire, my little ginger journo, has left the Green House for pastures new (or old, she’s moved back in with her parents). I’ve lived with Claire for three years but it’s only really been this year that we’ve been proper gym buddies, I’ll miss you Baines! You can keep track of her happenings on her blog.

It’s also worth noting that this week is the last chance to buy a RoadID whereby 10% goes towards my sponsorship goal. If you buy a RoadID through this blog after this week then the 10% will go towards whichever charity I run for next year. If you’d like to buy one (and I think they’re a great idea, especially if you run on your own) then please click the button on the right hand side of the page. Thanks.