Over the hill

A.M. Wet and windy, still feeling icky but managed to eat some white bread in the morning and feel just about well enough to run an easy recovery run at lunchtime. Ran some loops in the woods, carried loo paper in my bumbag which thankfully I didn't need. Total 13k in 1:07:04, av pace 5:10/k, 8:18/mi.

A.M. 6°C but with strong winds and heavy rain. Wanted to incorporate some gmp kms in the long run this morning. First 5k easy, then 5k at mp followed by alternate easy/mp kms for the next 13k before hitting the hills for 10k and finishing the last 2k at mp. The bike trail was full of deep muddy puddles and I was soaked through within the hour. I faded badly on the hills (as usual) reduced to granny pace at times, legs shaky at the end. Total 35,2k in 2:44:55 with 13k at gmp (6:50/mi). Av pace 4:41/k, 7:32/mi.

A.M. 1st recovery run of the day. Treacherous layer of thin black ice on the ground, slow and slippery running. Legs feeling beat up from yesterday. Total 14k in 1:16:36, av pace 5:28/k, 8:48/mi.

P.M. 2nd recovery run. Warmer with no ice on the deck,  legs feeling much better and a nice comfortable short run.  8,2k in 41:01, av pace 5'-/k, 8:03/mi.

A.M. I had woken up in the middle of the night hungry and in the end got up and ate a couple of sandwiches. I blame the 2nd run in the evening for this, it seems to burn the calories up, even when I eat well afterwards. I'd moved my med-long run from Thur to this morning to give me a couple of days easier running before a 10k race on Sat. Suffice to say I was tired to begin the run, I felt cold and struggled throughout developing aches & pains as the run progressed. I think it was too soon for me to run this after Mon's long run, on reflection it would have been better leaving this run to Thur. This 2nd long run in the week is fast becoming my bogeyman. Total 24k in 1:58:45, av pace 4:57/k, 7:58/mi.

Late evening - feeling tired but ok to do a short treadmill workout. Total 8k in 37:46, av pace 4:43/k, 7:36/mi. I've split my tea leaving an extra portion to eat later before I go to bed to hopefully avoid any midnight hunger pangs.

A.M. Ate an extra bowl of pasta before going to bed and slept through to the alarm. Struggled to wake up and get out of the door. An easy recovery run for 12k, felt generally tired and I don't know if that is the reason but also felt the cold again. Saw my regular little red fox in the woods who is going to have to learn not to run away in a straight line. Total time 1:04:15, av pace 5:21/k, 8:37/mi.

P.M. 2nd recovery run. Same effort and the same route more or less as this morning but this felt easier and looser and a heap more enjoyable. 10k in 51:58, av pace 5:12/k, 8:22/mi.

A.M. Very slippery this morning, easy paced short steep hill run with 8 x 100m strides in the patches where it wouldn't involve speed skating. Total 14,1k in 1:13:22, av pace 5:12/k, 8:22/mi.

2nd run dropped tonight to give my body some additional rest before tomorrow's 10k. Race conditions look interesting with a warm temp in the afternoon (6°C/43°F) and strong winds and rain which is going to make a good muddy course.  This time I have an idea what to expect and want to do better than the 1st race to get a time under 39. We were warned last time that this 2nd race is part of a company team series so there will be more participants. It is a narrow course 2 -3 runners wide after approx 200m so its going to be a mad early scramble to get into position.

Race time 15:00, weather warm 6°C/43°F with light drizzle. Course - muddy woodland trails of 2 x 5k. Weighed my trailshoes on the kitchen scales to take the lighter pair, more a psychological boost than anything. 2nd run in the series, arrived in plenty of time for a 15 min warmup with some short strides and to compose myself before the start. My normal 10k race tatic is to go out as hard as I can and try and hold on but last time here I faded in the 2nd half poorly and became discouraged  after being overtook several times. This time I aimed for negative splits and placed myself further back in the start line. Another factor was a large number of runners for a 5,2k team race who where running the one loop, I didn't want to get sucked into competing against them. The rough garmin 1k splits as follows:

1.flat/downhill	2. gradual uphill	3.steep uphill/flat	4.flat/downhill	5.downhill/flat
3:35	4:00	4:14	3:47	3:53
3:41	4:08	4:05	3:44	3:38

 Started well and felt comfortable and started gradually overtaking uphill,  I thought I might have problems getting past runners but by weaving and running on the rough ground just to the side of the trail I got past with less than anticipated problems. I still felt good and strong and more like a hard workout to the 5k point where I really started pushing it. Past this point it had thinned out but occasional knots of runners had formed which were more difficult to get past. I was gaining in confidence using the uphill to overtake and focused on reeling in each runner one at a time. The last 2k was hard, here the trail narrows down and it was difficult to get past. There was a last knot of 4 runners, I got past two but the other two ran side by side blocking me. I was frustrated, I haven't got a great kick and the last 120m to the finish line was wide. With about 500m to go I'd had enough and just forced my way between them. They were both hard on my heels and the last 120m was to the puke point.

Afterthoughts: My first negative split in a race for a long time and a better result because of this. I gained confidence during the race for every runner I overtook and it kept each surge going as I knew they would try and react. The last two runners I overtook finished 1 sec after me and both were in my age class. Next time I would like to try and run the 1st half slightly harder but still leave enough for a good hard 2nd half. In contrast to last time I enjoyed the race and I am much happier with my performance.