Heanor 10k (Matthew Walker Xmas Pudding Run)

Left Lincoln at 8.00am this morning ready for a 10.00am start and yes you've guessed it - arrived far too early yet again. Well, at least it gave us ample time to walk from the car park and get some race numbers plus have a look at the cheapies on offer at the running stall.

The race was also delayed by ten minutes (something about a large queue, probably at said running stall!) and we were not set on our way 'til about 10 past the hour.

Having taken part in yesterdays Parkrun I wondered how I would hold up in the first few miles and honestly for most of the first mile I was cursing my two race weekend ! The first mile is a lap of a trading estate, and it felt very hard and not very fast ! I didn't even glance at my watch on this first lap and it failed to vibrate at the mile split ! The second mile leaves the estate and heads out of Heanor - uphill !!!

The three years since I last did this race must have seen my memory wiped because miles 2 & 3 are predominantly uphill with some flat sections to suck you into a false sense of security - there is reported to be 58m of climbing on the course but I reckon you must do that in mile 2 alone. My watch did tease me with a vibrate at 2 miles and showed a second mile at a slow 8.02. Mile 3 was kinder in terms of the flat sections and I think I managed a 7.19 or something akin to that. At mile 3 something wonderful happens and there is a good mile or so of downhill and I made up some more time here ! In fact, it was great to continue to see my race average fall by a couple of seconds every time I looked at my watch, and mile five was soon completed with an average of 7.30 in tact.

The last mile is not so kind with two climbs contained therein and I was spent as I crawled up the second of these to cross the line with a better than expected 47.53 which was good enough on the day to finish 230/881.

November 2013 Parkruns

Clumber Parkrun 30/11/2013

After two weeks of Lincoln it was time for a change this morning and we headed out to Clumber Park to try another Parkrun that we hadn't gone to before.

It was St. Andrews day and the organisers had gone to the trouble to dress up and find some Scottish bunting for the finish area. It was a really pleasant atmosphere and I was really looking forward to the start of the two lap race at 9am.  I had googled the course and saw that it had 42m if climb, so I had presumed that it was going to be a slow course, however, as we were gathering I chatted to a chap who described it as fast with just one bump !

At 9am I found out exactly what the course was like - it was fast ! In fact the first mile flashed by in just 6.56 which was my fastest first mile all year. This first mile felt pretty much all downhill and was mostly run on forest trail - I felt on my limit but had moved into what I had worked out to be 5th place so I knew that I was running a good race. I tried to keep tight lines on the course too so that I could maximise my efforts.

At the end of the first lap there was the first short sharp climb and I managed to get up and over this without too much fuss and started my second lap in good shape. My second mile flashed up 7.27 but this included the climb from the previous lap so I was happy although blowing by now. I was still holding 5th place on the day but not for long, cos that last mile felt like a killer and I soon started to slip back places as the latter stages wore on.

The last climb up that hill really stung and my legs lost forward motion at the top of it. I eventually finished in 14th place of 65 on the day and a seasons best of 22.53 !

Lincoln - 23/11/13 24.50

With a trip to Heanor tomorrow for a 10k looming, todays outing at Lincoln was just about completing and not knackering out any part of my body.

I ran at what I guessed was a normal Tuesday night club run place and I think I achieved that with lap times of 8.08, 7.53 and a finishing average of 7.55 !

Happy with todays run and I don't feel too stiff for tomorrows Xmad Pudding race !

Lincoln - 16/11/13  22.58

Lincolns inaugural Parkrun took place this morning in Boultham Park after a few years of the organisers grappling with the local council. Finally, I have a Parkrun which is about a mile from my house and in a park that I know from my childhood - and best of all its flat !

There were nearly 300 people in the Park this morning ready to race, and I met up with lots of people from my various clubs before the race. My brother Dave also rocked up for a go, and Heidi did her 6th event - so it was also a family affair.

The pace was hot from the start and with the even gradient of the course I was able so knock out a 7.02 first lap. I felt the second lap was a lot slower, but the clock still showed 7.07 to maintain an average of 7.05 at that point. The third lap slowed a lot and I had some issue with my ankle again, but in all a finish of 22.58 was not to be sniffed at!


Rushcliffe - 9/11/13  25.44

With the Grafham Water Duathlon scheduled for the following morning, and with it being my 41st Birthday weekend, I thought I'd treat Heidi to a nice flattish fast parkrun.

So the plan was just to trot round and not push things too hard, but I found the more I relaxed the faster I went and was suprised to run an 8.18mm average to sneak in with a fresh finished 25.44.

Brigg Poppy Run 10k

Today was a return to 10k running, and my first standalone 10k of the year following my previous adventures with Team Newham over the summer.

I certainly picked a right old windy day for it too - with 21mph winds during the day leading up to the gale force winds expected overnight.

I rocked up at Brigg early enough to sit in my car for 20 mins, just so I could benefit from the 2 hours free parking, before making my way to registration to collect my race number of 398 for the day. There was a military challenge taking place at the same time where participants carried a heavy rucksack and wore boots throughout their 10k challenge. They were set off at 10.45am and it allowed me a further 15mins to warm up and estimate my place in the pack - there was no chip timing so I wanted to get as close to the front as possible.

There was a brief countdown before we were set off at 11.00 ! For the first mile I wanted to run a pace close to my usual parkrun first mile one, but as soon as we turned right out of the car park, it was apparent that the first half of the race would be run into a strong headwind - indeed I had to pull my visor down as far as I could so that it didn't blow off ! the first mile was hard work into the wind but I was satisfied enough to see 7.18 flash up on the Garmin at the end of it. Strangely, the field at this point had already strung out and I had plenty of room around me. the second mile slowed to 7.30 as expected, and in the third mile it was just a case of continuing to battle the wind, up a slight incline and down a farm lane to the turnaround cone. I've no idea how fast the third mile was but seem to thing I was averaging 7.31m/m at the halfway point which is only a few seconds outside my Parkrun PB !

As soon as I turned the cone, I felt the benefit of the backwind, however because of the battle with the wind I had no real energy left and tried to make the most out of it. Mile 4 was 7.37 and mile five a little slower at 7.51. As I had aimed to keep an average of 7.50m/miles before the race, I was happy to see that it was 5 miles before I even hit this benchmark. About 250 metres into the last mile though I got struck with really bad stitch and had to slow right down to a trot in an effort to reduce my breathing and to lighten the pain. This was annoying as I saw people coming past and must have looked like I'd badly blown up, but little by little I recovered and got back into Brigg with a 8.09 last mile. Now it was a strong run to the finish and crossing the line with a time of 48.18 which is my fastest 10k for 18 months.

Sheffield Hillsborough Parkrun

It was back to Sheffield this morning to pick up my bike from Planet X and having chanced Sheffield Castle Parkrun a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd pick a faster flatter Parkrun and opted for Hillsborough - you know what comes next......

That's right, it's Sheffield and it's built on hills, therefore nothing is entirely flat !

Got there pretty much on time in any case, and we made our way to the centre of the Park. My aim for the morning was to break 23 minutes and when we set off at 9.00 am I very quickly found myself congested and had to take a route diversion along the grass. The first part of the lap is a nice gradual slide down towards Sheffield Wednesday FC's Hillsborough stadium before taking in a tour of some tennis courts and then a long slog of a rise to the highest part of the course before a downhill to the start.

First lap clocked 7.17 but it was hard as I really pushed up the hill and I think I paid for it on the rest of the lap. Second lap 7.30 - slower as I paced the climb better, and on the third lap, by the time I got to the top of the climb I was truly wasted and my speed dropped off a cliff. I hit 3 miles at 7.38 and I ambled over the line finally in a total time of 23.09 - a whole 9 seconds outside of my time a couple of weeks ago on that roller coaster of a course at Sheffield Castle.....mmmm.... somethings are not always what they seem.....flat indeed !!!

Sheffield Castle Parkrun

Blimey !

We rocked up to this one this morning as we were in Sheffield for other business - there were 4 to choose from but this one was closest to where we needed to be.

When I got to Manor Park, I noticed immediately that there was a bloody great big climb, and hadn't figured on the course having 250 feet of overall climb. After an enthusiastic briefing, we were on our way and heading around the park for undulating first half - I saw 6.40 on the Garmin at one point, but that soon settled when I hit the mid way climb. From there it was a steady descent, before turning left for the main climb to end the lap. First circuit done in 7.28 and I thought that would be the start of a steady decline, but the next couple of laps ticked by in a similar pace and at the end my average pace was 7.31m/m which I am delighted with given that this course is the Wimbleball of all Parkruns !

Finished 9th on the day having been overtaken up the last hill, and closet yet to a first sub 23 min 5k run of the year !

East Leake Triathlon

Today was only my second sprint distance triathlon of the year and was to be the last one. I've been in Ibiza for a week and whilst I'd managed to behave myself with the wine and fatty food I was hardly in the shape of my life as I tackled todays challenge :

Swim 8.53
Got behind a slow swimmer on the first length and didn't really recover. swam OK, but exited the water at c.7.50 which was probably half a minute down on my true race pace. Took me a minute to run round to T1 and over the timing mat.

T1 - 0.55
Super smooth except I hadnt noticed that my race number had fallen off the bike.

Bike 35.25
Managed to squirt a gel into my face for the second race running. Bike course undulating with a strong wind seeming to circle and never really behind. Averaged 22mph after pushing it towards 23.5mph at the turn. Did not get overtaken which was a good sign that it was a decent split. 27th fastest I think overall and more to come next season. Dismounted slowly and need to master the dark art of the flying one ! T2 took 45 seconds.

Run 22.24
I would estimate that the run course is 4.7k rather than a full 5k, however it is three runs up an incline so I was grateful for the short course by the end of it. Raced a bloke who I thought was in my wave, but it turns out he was in one 3mins earlier. Ran a strong pace throughout, but there is massive scope for improvement for next year.

Overall - 47th out of 326. That's it for 2013 really - I have a 10k booked each month in Q4 and will regularly Parkrun, but its mostly now months of winter bike training ready for spring.

Newark Parkruns

So there's a new Parkrun in Newark that's been running for a couple of months and with it being only 20 minutes away it was rude not to decide to use it as Autumn speed training :

The idea is to pop over when I can (ideally fortnightly) for a Saturday morning bash - this is how they have gone...

02.11.13 23.41
How on earth I managed to post a Newark Parkrun PW today I will never know. I managed a 7.04 first lap buoyed by a bit of racing against a club mate early doors, knocked out a 2nd lap at 7.30 and kept up an average pace of 7.25m/m by the time I crossed the finish line. I have to admit that the really hard initial effort blew me up a little bit - but c'mon - a 7.25 average pace should have seen me in done in around 23mins dead !

26.10.13 41.55
As I was running the Poppy Run the next day, I offered to run this one with Heidi to see if we could get around in a new PB for her. Enjoyed the company at a more relaxed pace and Heidi managed to run at least 2.7 of the 3.1miles which is amazing although the result in the end didn't reflect the achievement.

14.09.13 - 23.26
Rain all night had soggied conditions somewhat and the temperature had definitely dropped a notch as I lined up for this weeks Parkrun. I was alert this time and positioned myself towards the front of the pack and was away at a good consistent speed. First mile clocked in 7.07 and felt very hard. I focused on a pack of runners in front of me and tried to keep it steady. Forgot to look at my watch for the second mile split but I did for the third mile which again saw me dying
 and it showed 7.30. I crossed the finish this week in 23.26 for a 5 second improvement on the week before in what I perceived to be a harder effort.

07.09.13 - 23.31 
Turned up nice and early as usual, parked too far away found out how undulating the course was on the walk through to the start. Got chatting and missed the start, spent the first 200m sprinting on the grass down the side to make sure I didn't lose too much ground. First lap of 3 felt reall good, the course was technical but enjoyable with a mix of terrains and some ups and downs along the way. Completely spent by the third laps finish, and happy to finish to post a sub 24 on a harder course than Colwick.