After
my efforts at the Endure24 I took my two week planned break and it was always
the plan to concentrate
on the short stuff before building back up
in a month or so, however I did underestimate how long it took to get back to
normal - let`s just say my legs were a bit shocked when I went out for the
first few times.
The `Longest parkrun day`
- 6 parkrun courses one after each other. It was tougher than I thought – so
glad Alice Holt was the second course we visited but really good fun. 18.6
miles in 2:28:43
What else - quite a lot really
but I did take the sensible option on a couple of them - I used the Woodland
5 & a bit (41:36) & Yateley 10Km (46:05) as hard effort runs
rather than flat out races. I didn`t race New Forest 10 (1:37:37), had a
bit of a untidy race at the Adventure Boot Camp 10Km (51:27).
I gave the Elstead `Marathon`
(41:57 - 5.4 Miles), the very hilly Gibbet Hill 10Km (49:49) & the
flat Dinton Lakes 10Km (46:22) a bit of a go - interesting twists to
those two 10Kms as they were on consecutive nights. Cove Joggers
(eventually – yes sorry about that) fielded 4 teams at the Bounders Relay
(4 x 2.1 miles) - one year I`ll make that top team but I did put myself down
for two runs – first run was 15:40 & the second run was a pleasing 15:07. I
`dipped my toe` in triathlons - Sandhurst Joggers put on a `Try-A-Tri`
which consists of a 200 mtr pool swim, 10Km cycle & 1.8 mile run. While its
good every while to step out from your comfort zone it did feel weird even at
that distance…not felt like that for ages. Great fun, well worth doing &
from the results I know where I need to concentrate if I want to give it
another go……………….who knows ;-) Anyway the Results = Swim 4:50 (11th), Bike
25:26 (16th) & Run 13:32 (4th) = Total time 43 mins 48 secs. Position -
14th from 22
Lastly, and the race I was
gearing up for was the Olympic Park 5M. A rare chance of a 5 mile PB as
I had only really raced one a few years back (38:20) & no I`m not counting
the Woodlands 5 & a Bit as `races` in this. We arrived at Stratford and
almost immediately lost ourselves in the sea of blue `National Lottery` race
tops but we managed make it to the Stadium intact where we met up with more
runners from Frimley Lodgers & Cove Joggers. We had about 50 mins or so
that just simply disappeared. I was lucky enough in the 1st (Red) wave - it
still took my 5 minutes to cross the line. The plan was sub 37 maybe even
manage a cheeky sub 36 (I often do as a mid-week speed session 4 miles in
29.3x) so in race conditions I thought these goals were realistic.
I was surprised
how narrow & how many twists the course had for so many runners but I guess
it did prevent you from chasing off too fast in the 1st couple of miles…Despite
the fact I was `going slowly` I look at the Garmin when it beeped for the 1st
mile - 7:17 so as it happens spot on pace. I guess it helped as I ran on the
far left or far right hand side of the tracks - I seemed to get more space to
overtake. We soon came to water station at mile 2 - I didn`t bother & used
that opportunity to overtake a few more that moved over or slowed down for the
water - I did miss seeing what that mile split was. I enjoyed the next section
as you could see the fast boys & girls (& some `walkers` !!!) coming
down towards at their 4 mile mark so expericance told me we would speed up - we
did - 3rd mile in 6:58 - brilliant. I wondered what mile 2 was…..my legs,
despite the parkrun & `Try-A-Tri` the day before were feeling ok. I was
swinging my arms like a loon. I found mile 3 the worse for twist & turns
& I guess many runners who went off too quick were being caught out her. I
looked forward to the next section as you could see runners on the other side
going past - mile 4 marker appeared - 7:20 pace - I saw Ali & David on the
other side. I kept pushing the pace & soon we were under the Stadium - this
section was to me was not the best section on the route - it went on for ever.
The garmin beeping like mad - lost signal but like most things it was pleasing
when you saw the light at the end of the tunnel…and out on the track we
went. I am struggling to think of a better setting for a finish to any race –
what a feeling. Amazing – even the feeling of 200 to go wasn`t too bad. Over
the line in 36:18
Next up is, and for the fourth
consecutive year - the Thunder Run24 - Team Name `Willy Wonkers IV`
don`t get confused we are a mixed 5 team…is a personal goals of 7 laps too much
????
