Posts Tagged ‘bupa 10.000’

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Goals

September 23, 2009

I don’t mind running for the sake of running, otherwise I wouldn’t do it, but what makes running interesting for me is having a goal and working towards it. Starting many years ago with ‘I want to try running’ then again in 2007 with ‘I want to be a runner’, in 2008 we had ‘I want to finish a 5k race’ and so on.

My long term goal at the moment is to complete a marathon in 2011. I can’t give an accurate goal time at the moment but I’d rather it were closer to 4 hours than 5. Given the chances of getting a ballot place for London, I’ll probably apply for Brighton instead and then maybe try London another year.

Middle term (is that even a phrase?) goal is a half marathon in under 2 hours. I’m pretty sure I’m going to apply for the Great North Run next year so I have a whole 12 months to prepare! I don’t have a back up race at the moment, so if I don’t get into the GNR I’ll have to have a look around (or try to get a charity place). At the moment I can run about 12 or 13k without my legs getting too tired, and I’ve never run more than 16k, so I’ll need to work on my long runs to extend this.

Short term I have a few, more modest, goals. In May of next year I have the Bupa London 10,000 and intend to shave a couple of minutes off my 10k time. I also, rather embarrassingly, struggle to run too far without taking a walking break. Some of the time it’s because of my asthma, but some of the time I do it out of habit. I can do a 5k without walking fairly easily and so my immediate goal is to start doing 6 and 7km runs without walking, so that by May I’ll be doing 10k without walking.

So there we have it – this is what I’m aiming for!

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What’s Next?

July 17, 2009

So with the 10k conquered, what’s next? Well I’ll continue to train (you never know when the zombie apocalypse might occur, then us runners will be thankful for the miles we put in!) and I intend to keep doing some 10k and 5k events when they look good. However, my new distance goal is going to be the half marathon. I’d like to keep doing charity runs and I’m of the belief that you can’t really ask the same people to sponsor you each year if you’re just going to do the same distance as before, especially at these smaller distances, where’s the challenge in that?

Rouding the hairpin at the end of Westminster Bridge (8.1km)

Rounding the hairpin at the end of Westminster Bridge (8.1km)


I found myself getting a little despondent with running in the last few weeks leading up to the 10k and I think it was because I wasn’t increasing my distance like I had been since Christmas. I was still improving my times and getting stronger, but I wasn’t running at my own speed and I want to get back into slowly increasing my distance and running at my own pace again. The next few weeks I’ll just be doing what I want to do and run for the sake of running. I know that if I really put everything in I could probably do the full marathon next year but I want to train for it properly and get a good time (by my standards anyway). Just completing the 26.2 miles isn’t quite good enough for me. I won’t forget the shorter distances though and I’ll be putting in some interval and speed sessions at a later date to work on my times for the events I have coming up. So far I have places for:

Lichfield 10k – 6th September
Great Capital Run – 13th September
Bupa London 10,000 – 31 May 2010

If anyone knows of a good short distance event then please comment! Thanks. I shall attempt to keep posting 3 times a week but the Wednesday posts might get dropped if I have nothing of relevance to say!

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Last Week: w/c 8th June

June 15, 2009

Monday: I had decided that one week of being ill was enough and I was going to go do something. I went to the gym with Claire as I was still a bit unsteady (strange vertigo dizziness all week) and thought it safer than trying a run. I did 6km (28 minutes) on the exercise bike to start with and then 2km of easy intervals on the treadmill. Probably shouldn’t have done the running at the end but it felt good to get the blood going!

Wednesday: I wanted to try another run, though after the rather wobbly 2k on Monday I was under strict orders from Coach Ally to use the treadmill instead of going outside. Probably just as well. I had intended to do 7k but in the end left it at 5 (30’30″).

Thursday: I had already said that I would go back to the gym with Claire, and I was still unsure as to how far I could run, so it seemed the sensible option. As it happened, both treadmills were taken when we got there so I entertained myself on the ergo and the exercise bike until one was free. I did my first km at tempo pace but got horrible stabbing pains in my abdomen, much like I did a few months ago, and so had to stop at 1.3k. Defeated, I did another km on the bike and then a pretty massive weights session. I was still tiring quicker so I might not have been completely over this illness. Well done to Baines though, who is now up to 3-1 intervals on the treadmill (3 mins running to 1 min walking).

Friday: Had arranged to do a 10k in Sutton Park with Ally and stayed over at his on the Thursday night to get to the park at a reasonable hour the next morning. It was a great day for it, nice and sunny but not too hot. I actually managed the distance, which was good, in 67 minutes. I used the Garmin so I know it’s pretty accurate. It’s not quite as quick as I would have liked but it felt good so I’m happy with it.

Saturday: Decided I needed a day off from running. Went to archery in the morning (as well as Friday evening) and got back into the swing of things. Competition on Sunday morning so I needed the practice!

Sunday: Didn’t get back from the archery competition until 3pm, but decided to join Scribs on his ‘challenge’ mile. As it happens we did a 5k in 32’45″. Scribs’ ridiculous pace kept me from falling back into my 10k pace (thanks Scribs), though we had a few walking breaks as he isn’t used to exercise the distance.

Total Run: 23.3km

This week I signed up for a place in the 2010 Bupa London 10,000, which takes place on 31st May. I’ve put my estimated time as 55 minutes, so I have nearly a year to get it down to that! I’ve also signed up for a smaller event – the Lichfield 10k – on 6th September this year. I put my estimated time as 1 hour, and I know there’s a good hill in it, but it looks like it could be fun.

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