For the endorphins

15M pm incl 9x2K off 90s jog

No time for a morning run today - a talk to finish and give - but I made up for it with a cracking evening run.

I ran it in my racers as I didn't have space for my clumpy normal trainers in the bag I took to work. I wonder whether I should do this more often as it feels so different that it must use different muscles. I've shied away from them other than when racing to avoid injury. I'm not sure what's best...

Anyway, I ran the 2K session I've been doing recently. As usual, I was Garmin-less, so ran 6mins 40s to ensure I was going far enough each time. Nine reps off 90 seconds jog recovery. I felt like I was really moving even though I struggled to make my legs really sting.

My breathing was good, despite being a bit more than a breath in and out with each set of 4 strides (my preferred racing rhythm). I think I should try to make sure I get more comfortable with this. I wonder if it has restricted my comfortable cruising speed.

I am now glowingly-full of endorphins. Hard drugs or running? Running seems cheaper. And with the luminous and Scotch-brited tabard I bought today, it may also be safer.

Steady

17M double; recovery run & steady run
5M am recovery run
12M pm steady run

My legs still ache after Sunday, but not in a dangerous way. They were fine churning out a good number of steady miles this evening (extended a bit to go meet Y who was running home from work by the time I was finishing).

I'm trying to work out the best shape for my running week... A session tomorrow (Wednesday) evening and then maybe something fairly arduous on Thursday ahead of a short race on Saturday hopefully.

Recovery

13M double; recovery runs x2
5M am recovery run
8M pm recovery run

My calves, glutes and hamstrings are all reassuringly sore after yesterday. So I kept it pretty short and easy today. Despite the pain, my legs still seem to have some springiness in them though. A funny combination.

A great day & a good performance - with room to improve

13M incl 10M Great South Run in 52.01 (PB; 26th; 5m12s/mile)

I think I'm pleased with my run. I've had 52 down as my target for a while. But looking back at the race, I'm sure I could have done a bit better. It was a bit of an odd one.

I was really up for it - having Abel Kirui and Tariku Bekele in the elite tent and warming up with you is pretty cool. I ran without a watch and (perhaps as a result) misjudged my pace a bit at the beginning. My first 5K was 15.36 and I dropped off the back of the 2nd group a bit before that. I was a bit hesitant to drop off them early on as there wasn't a 3rd group and it was a bit windy. In retrospect, I should have kept things a bit slower.

I suffered a bit the 2nd 5K (on my own) and ran it in 16.18. Which meant my 10K split was faster than my 10K PB! I was unaware of my times at any point until the finish line (there were no clocks on the course), so actually I was feeling pretty pissed off with my performance. After 5K my legs were hurting.  By 10K it wasn't my legs, but my breathing felt out of sorts - partly a bit stitchy, partly just poor in terms of rhythm.

From there, I was picked up by a couple of guys and tucked in behind them. And though my 3rd 5K split was my slowest, my race actually improved. It was only a little slower, at 16.20. We were catching the guys ahead of us by then and it finally felt better.

At the end, I lost out on the sprint to the guys with me and (more annoyingly), I just missed breaking 52 minutes. I reckon

Afterwards, I continued to be awestruck by he others in the elite area. Kirui in particular was really nice and quite chatty. Tariku was nice too and was excited I'd been to train in Bekoji with Coach.

A good running day. The sort of day that is well worth all the hard sessions.

And the fact that I feel a bit disappointed is actually really encouraging. I'm still improving.

Rest

Tomorrow is race day...

Rest

Rest... ahead of race day.

Just six

6M pm recovery run

Just one run today - in the evening. I felt much better than yesterday.

Some strides

14M double; recovery run & steady run with strides
7M am recovery run
7M pm steady run with 10x100m strides

I felt rubbish on my morning run. Slow legs and generally muzzy. And the beginning of my evening run was similar. My strides seemed to pull me out of torpor and the second half of it felt pretty good. I'm tired of running up and down the same patch of uninteresting canal now.

Steady along some canals

17M double; recovery run & steady run
7M am recovery run
10M pm steady run

Two not-too-taxing runs today. My calves can feel yesterday's session a bit and I'm back to feeling normal (rather than well rested). I ran up and down the canal again. In the direction of the Man City ground along the Rochdale Canal. Too many cobbles for my liking.

Back from holiday with some 800m reps

17M double; 800m rep session & recovery run
11M am incl 8x800m off 60s
6M pm recovery run

I'm back from four very restful days away. No time for running, but a fair bit of hill walking. And a good deal of pizza.

I got up EARLY to run my session before work. I am now away in Manchester for 3 nights and knew I'd only have time for some easy miles along the canal in the evening.

In the morning, I plumped for 800m reps - eight of them off 60s recovery in the misty murk. I could see enough of what was ahead of me for it not to slow me. And I felt great after the days of rest. My splits were ok if not great - 2.29-2.34.

Six days to the Great South Run... Looking forward to it. Abel Kirui and Tariku Belele are racing too.

Another surge session

17M double; recovery run & surge session
7M am recovery run
10M pm incl 7K surge session

We're off on a long weekend away tomorrow, so I did another session this evening. Yesterday's was in the morning, so it wasn't too tight and my legs felt ok.

I plumped for a repeat of Danny's surge session that he taught me a couple of weeks ago. I added one extra 90s surge because I couldn't do maths. It ended up as surges lasting 90s-90s-90s-60s-60s-60s-60s-30s-30s-30s-30s-15s-15s-15s-15s with each one followed by the same length section at cruising pace. It was good. My short ones felt properly fast.

The morning run was just a gentle one to work via the usual meanderings.

Fairly long tempo

19M double; longish tempo & recovery
12M am with at ~6.30min/M (0-5M), 6.00 (5-8M), 5.40 (8-10M) & 5.20 (10-12M)
7M pm recovery run

I managed (with a bit of encouragement) to get out of bed early this morning to squeeze in a pre-work crescendo/tempo session. I ran it around the perimeter of the Heath, down to Primrose Hill, through and looping around in Regents Park and then the usual route from Baker Street to Russell Square.

It felt ten times better than I was imagining while lying lazily in bed. The Garmin told me I found a decent amount of zip in my legs towards the end - even with a bit of dodging through the traffic over the last couple of miles. Quite pleased.

My evening run was just a gentle one home.

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

Just a couple of easy ones today. I felt pretty full of running in the morning and got sucked into racing the cyclists from Baker Street to Tottenham Court Road. They were hindered by traffic jams. An easy win for the legs over wheels today. My legs were a bit more jaded in the evening - perhaps as a result.

Hill reps

15M double; hill rep session & recovery run
9M am incl 6x1.35K up & down hill reps off 90s
6M pm recovery run

I headed to the Heath for another go at the full Lido to the top of Parliament Hill session I ran a couple of weeks ago. This time, I kept it to six reps, so I could give it a bit more. Though I was alone, so it was harder going. I tried to focus on putting it all into the up - doesn't seem much point in saving anything for the down as the top bit is too steep (and was too full of dog walkers, pram pushers and kite fliers) to keep the foot completely to the floor.

The session seemed pretty good. My splits were something along the lines of 2m50s-2m54s to the top and 5min4s-5min9s for the reps overall.

A nice easy run in the evening - with my legs feeling close to great.

Recovery and some strides

10M double; recovery run & recovery run with strides
3M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run with 8x100m strides

We went for a really nice slow run around the Heath this morning - just what my sore legs needed.

My evening run might have been longer, but I felt better for it and the strides are good to include in my weekly routine.

Oof - another 2K session

22M double; 2K rep session & recovery run
16M am incl 9x2K off 90s walk/jog
6M pm recovery run

I thought I might have felt a bit more rested after a rest day yesterday and recovery the day before, but I felt pretty rubbish right from the off. Sluggish. The reps (run around the track) came out at 6m37s-6m51s with most being 6m40s. Not very fast and only partly mitigated by the wind. Still, I didn't fall apart til the last couple and it was a good long session that should have done me some good.

Just a gentle recovery run for my second one.

Rest!

A scheduled rest day - one every other week is what I'm aiming for.

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

Not much on the running agenda today. Not much juice in the tank either.

Ten before work, fairly fast

15M double; tempo run & recovery run
10M am first 5M at ~6.30min/M second 5M at ~5.30min/M
5M pm recovery run

I ran my session on the way in to work this morning - dinner guests in the evening... aubergines to griddle and the like.

I felt pretty good on my run, even though I was carrying my (light) pack. We'll see how long this full of beans patch lasts... I'd better not push my luck.

Easy (full of beans)

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

I'm in another one of my high energy weeks. But I kept it fairly easy today nevertheless. Just a couple of gentle seven milers. To and from work. Via Parliament Hill etc.

Summary of week ending 07/10/2012

Mon 1/10 - 12M double; 5M & 7M recovery runs
Tue 2/10 - 22M double; 7M recov & 16M incl 9x2K off 90s jog
Wed 3/10 - 6M recovery run
Thu 4/10 - 19M double; 7M recov & 12M pm incl 20min surge session
Fri 5/10 - 17M double; 7M recov & 10M steady
Sat 6/10 - 6M recovery run incl 6x100m strides
Sun 7/10 - 12M crescendo run at 6.30-5.20min/M
TOTAL - 94M

12 mile crescendo (with Kebede and others as inspiration)

12M pm crescendo run at 6.30-5.20min/M

I ran another sharpish 12 miler today. This time along the Regents Canal to the West.

It was nothing too crazy, but a nice crescendo effort. I felt really nice and easy in my running despite a little bit of achiness from yesterday's strides. I was intending to go out nice and gently and then pick it up more gradually, but I headed out at 6.30 pace for the first couple of miles. From mile two to mile six I picked it up to six minute miling. Again, I felt pretty easy. From mile six to mile ten I started pushing it a bit more - at 5.40min/M pace. This felt more natural - pushing off better - even if I was beginning to breath a bit harder. From mile ten to the end I went pretty hard. Along the canal, I kept it fast but not all out - 5.20min/M. From the canal home (the last mile and half) is up hill and I gave it the full treatment - which came out at 5.40min/M with the hill and various road crossings.

I've not been running with my Garmin much recently and I was chuffed how easy the different speeds felt. I've probably been going better than I had thought.

I was probably also sped up today by the spirit of the Chicago Marathon. I really enjoyed Kebede's victory. Though not quite as much as his battle there with Wanjiru in 2010. Or Salazar's duel in the sun in Boston in '82 which I found myself dragged into reliving. Cracking stuff. NYC marathon next weekend.

Oh and I used my morning to bake some more tasty offerings. This time it was fougasse. I think they came out a bit chubby. But that didn't detract from their yumminess.

Just six - with some strides

6M pm recovery run incl 6x100m strides

Just some gentle running today. Though, for the first time in absolutely ages (almost since I started running properly) I included some strides. I only really use them in warm up for sessions. I am newly resolved to include them in this kind of session.

Steady in the rain

17M double; recovery run & steady run
7M am recovery run (last mile at 6.00min/M)
10M pm steady run at ~6.15min/M with pack

My legs were aching all night and most of the day. But somehow, when I was running today, they were full of energy. I ended up going pretty hard at the end of my morning run, trying to keep up with a bike I was chasing from Oxford Street to Russell Square. By the end he was probably expecting me to pull a knife on him. It was quite a fun little chase. Especially with musical accompaniment from my beloved phantom railings.

The rain made it a bit chilly on my evening run. But the running itself was good. Partly due to my legs being in the mood and partly due to the adrenalin rush of having a heavy door slam on my hand as I left work.

A Danny Russell-shaped surge session

19M double; recovery run & surge session
7M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M
12M pm incl 20 minute surge session

Another good Thursday session at Regents Park tonight with Danny and Tom. Danny prescribed his Saturday morning favourite from Oz - a twenty minute surge session alternating 1K rep pace (a bit over 3.00min/K pace) with cruising pace of ~6.00-6.30min/M. The surges lasted 90s-90s-60s-60s-60s-60s-30s-30s-30s-30s-15s-15s-15s-15s with each one followed by the same length section at cruising pace. It sounded ok before we started. And even felt ok at half way (after the second 60s section). But then the lactate levels rose and the misery started. It was pretty brutal by the end.

All a bit different from my nice gentle tootle in to work in the morning.

Just six

6M am recovery run

Only time for one today. My legs were pretty tight after the reps yesterday and were pleased not to be asked to do too much.

Another killer 2K session

22M double; recovery run & 2K rep session
6M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
16M pm incl 9x2K off 90s jog

I ran a real killer day today. I got up early to run my morning run 'packless' - I'm trying to do this as much as possible nowadays. It was a nice little saunter around the perimeter of the Heath.

I left my pack at work and came home with my phone and some other essentials in my back pocket so that my evening session could be as close to unhindered as possible. I ran to the Inner Circle at Regents Park and used it for 2K reps (one lap is around a kilometre). It's a good length of rep for me. And the length of the session is just about manageable.

My little legs will hurt tomorrow.

Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
5M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M
7M pm recovery run at ~6.30min/M

Just two easy ones today. Five miles to work and then seven to Canary Wharf for dinner and planning with Ron.