Recently in Run Category
"Mostly Harmless" was how the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy describes Earth, and the same can largely be said of the Headington 10k. Flat and featureless, the race starts and ends at Wormihghall airfield in Buckinghamshire (see map below). Around 4k is run on the airfield and the rest is on the roads surrounding it. It's not the most scenic, exciting or challenging, but it was still a good run for a Sunday morning.
There was a good turnout this morning of around 15 Roadrunners, and probably a couple of hundred others. It was not too hot, but with thunderstorms forecast for later in the day it got gradually more humid, until rain started at about 11 o'clock.
My previous 10k runs at Eynsham, and at Windsor Triathlon were right on the button at 52 minutes, but I have been doing a lot of running over the past few months - mainly slower running with my various newcomers, but also a little speed work at the gym. At the Oxford Motavation last week I managed 30:40, so on that basis - about 7:40 per mile / 4:50 per km - I was aiming for sub-48 minutes. This would be a significant increase over my previous times, but I guessed I could manage it.
I hit the first, second and third kilometre markers bang on the money at around 5 minutes per mile. My aim was to stay at this pace, and stay with Jane for the first half of the race, then put in a faster second 5k. My 5k time was 24:33, but I felt OK.
At the water station just after 5k, I took on some water and almost by accident sped up a little to pass Jane. Once past her I thought "might as well keep going", so I tried to keep a stronger pace. I managed to kick past quite a few people over the next few kms. I had a bit of a 'funny' at around 7k, where I'd convinced myself that I'd already done 8k, and at that point I started to lose track of my time and what I needed to do to hit 48 minutes.
I hit the nine kilometre mark at 43:35 - only 4:25 to go. I'd been starting to flag a little, but now had to put the hammer down for the last few hundred metres. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but I started to hear the finish-line crowd and managed to kick for a final time.
I almost threw up on the finish line - again (am I doing something wrong here?!) - but was delighted to finish in 47:51. It shows that the training is paying off - even the slow running must be helping, and hopefully I'll start to catch some of the real ERR runners who can do sub-40 minutes. Perhaps a little way to go before that, though.
There was a good turnout this morning of around 15 Roadrunners, and probably a couple of hundred others. It was not too hot, but with thunderstorms forecast for later in the day it got gradually more humid, until rain started at about 11 o'clock.
My previous 10k runs at Eynsham, and at Windsor Triathlon were right on the button at 52 minutes, but I have been doing a lot of running over the past few months - mainly slower running with my various newcomers, but also a little speed work at the gym. At the Oxford Motavation last week I managed 30:40, so on that basis - about 7:40 per mile / 4:50 per km - I was aiming for sub-48 minutes. This would be a significant increase over my previous times, but I guessed I could manage it.
I hit the first, second and third kilometre markers bang on the money at around 5 minutes per mile. My aim was to stay at this pace, and stay with Jane for the first half of the race, then put in a faster second 5k. My 5k time was 24:33, but I felt OK.
At the water station just after 5k, I took on some water and almost by accident sped up a little to pass Jane. Once past her I thought "might as well keep going", so I tried to keep a stronger pace. I managed to kick past quite a few people over the next few kms. I had a bit of a 'funny' at around 7k, where I'd convinced myself that I'd already done 8k, and at that point I started to lose track of my time and what I needed to do to hit 48 minutes.
I hit the nine kilometre mark at 43:35 - only 4:25 to go. I'd been starting to flag a little, but now had to put the hammer down for the last few hundred metres. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but I started to hear the finish-line crowd and managed to kick for a final time.
I almost threw up on the finish line - again (am I doing something wrong here?!) - but was delighted to finish in 47:51. It shows that the training is paying off - even the slow running must be helping, and hopefully I'll start to catch some of the real ERR runners who can do sub-40 minutes. Perhaps a little way to go before that, though.
This is a big weekend for my three runners, and also for me. Rosie, Katie and Roger are running the Race for Life and Run for Moore in Oxford South Parks (Katie at Silverstone racetrack), and I've got the Blenheim Triathlon. 
It's their first running event, and I'm sure they're all a bit nervous - I'm nervous for them! But I know they'll all do really well - I'm expecting Roger to do a sub-30 minute 5k (maybe even 25 minutes?), and Rosie and Katie won't be too far behind.
Blenheim is one of my races from last year so I have something to compare against. I'm definitely much stronger this year and should be able improve on my rather pitiful 34 minute "run". Overall I think I can shave 20 minutes off last year's time. With Sophie and parents in attendance, and a new Oxford Tri club tri-suit to show off, I am hoping to perform well.
Good luck to all us!
It's their first running event, and I'm sure they're all a bit nervous - I'm nervous for them! But I know they'll all do really well - I'm expecting Roger to do a sub-30 minute 5k (maybe even 25 minutes?), and Rosie and Katie won't be too far behind.
Blenheim is one of my races from last year so I have something to compare against. I'm definitely much stronger this year and should be able improve on my rather pitiful 34 minute "run". Overall I think I can shave 20 minutes off last year's time. With Sophie and parents in attendance, and a new Oxford Tri club tri-suit to show off, I am hoping to perform well.
Good luck to all us!
I'm very happy with my PB at the Charndon 5k last night. 22:39 is pretty good for me - especially since I was expecting to do a 24 minuter. The race was mostly flat - a few bumps - and was very busy (maybe 200 people in total?). The weather was perfect for running and I really enjoyed it on the whole. A few cooling pints of IPA afterwards topped it off nicely!
Anyway, nuff said. Map of the route here (it was 5k honestly, despite my poor measuring...)
Anyway, nuff said. Map of the route here (it was 5k honestly, despite my poor measuring...)
As anyone who knows me, or reads my Facebook profile would know I'm not normally a religious man. But tonight I felt unusual forces were at play...
Although I've been doing more running this year, I'm not really pushing the distances. I tend to do short, easy, 2 mile runs at lunchtime with work colleagues, and my gym runs are normally brick sessions combining a 40k cycle with a run. These are normally only 5k runs at best because I'm hot, knackered and bored by this time. Windsor is now only 4 weeks away so I'm getting nervous about the 10k run at the end and I just know I need to do some more and longer runs.
It was a lovely sunny evening today and so I decided to go for a run. Heading down to Cutteslowe Park's measured mile, my plan was to complete 10k (just over 6 laps).
Although I've been doing more running this year, I'm not really pushing the distances. I tend to do short, easy, 2 mile runs at lunchtime with work colleagues, and my gym runs are normally brick sessions combining a 40k cycle with a run. These are normally only 5k runs at best because I'm hot, knackered and bored by this time. Windsor is now only 4 weeks away so I'm getting nervous about the 10k run at the end and I just know I need to do some more and longer runs.
It was a lovely sunny evening today and so I decided to go for a run. Heading down to Cutteslowe Park's measured mile, my plan was to complete 10k (just over 6 laps).
Continue reading Another mile... just one more mile.
Windsor triathlon on June 15th is an Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km ride), which is longer than the sprints I've done before, so I'm a bit nervous. I've also been told it's quite hilly but I'm ignoring that for now! It's important to me that I know I can complete the distance, even if it's slowly, and doing a couple of 'trial' sprint triathlons before my first one in Newbury a couple of years ago was definitely a confidence booster.
So I've been working up to the full distance over the past few weeks, in the hope that I can do a couple of trial Olympic distance bike/runs before the event, and I'm almost there. I've increased my run distances significantly since September last year, and can now run about 12km before I completely fall apart. But I've really neglected my cycling and swimming. Swimming will have to wait for now, as today I did a brick session (bike and run), which this time I did as a 40km bike ride and a 5km run. The run was a bit slower than I hoped (27m), but after a 40km ride I can forgive myself. Brick sessions are great practice for the day because they teach your body how to cope with the bike/run transition, which I think is far and away the hardest part of the triathlon. So I'm pleased I completed the whole lot in about 1.5 hours, and probably could have run a bit further ifI hadn't gotten bored.
Next time:full bike and run distance, then the lake at Cassington opens up in a few weeks so I can get back into the swimming practice!
So I've been working up to the full distance over the past few weeks, in the hope that I can do a couple of trial Olympic distance bike/runs before the event, and I'm almost there. I've increased my run distances significantly since September last year, and can now run about 12km before I completely fall apart. But I've really neglected my cycling and swimming. Swimming will have to wait for now, as today I did a brick session (bike and run), which this time I did as a 40km bike ride and a 5km run. The run was a bit slower than I hoped (27m), but after a 40km ride I can forgive myself. Brick sessions are great practice for the day because they teach your body how to cope with the bike/run transition, which I think is far and away the hardest part of the triathlon. So I'm pleased I completed the whole lot in about 1.5 hours, and probably could have run a bit further ifI hadn't gotten bored.
Next time:full bike and run distance, then the lake at Cassington opens up in a few weeks so I can get back into the swimming practice!
Today I ran my first cross-country since I was an 11 year old, and boy was it an eye opener! No shortcuts, no fag-smoking bullies, no running in your underwear, and no hot tea and buns at the end (I didn't get these at school either but I was hoping for them today. In the end Lesley and Marie had to go off to get some teas for everyone).
Organised by Woodstock Harrier's running club, the event was held at Clanfield in Oxfordshire around a few farmer's fields. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perverse point of view), the weather had been 'rather inclement' over the past few days, and all night last night, so the ground was very wet and muddy. I bought myself some new Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 since they're designed for trail running and are more grippy than my normal running shoes.
It was a relay-style race, and I was in a mixed team of 4 from Eynsham Road Runners (I'm finally an official member), with Jane, Linda and Anthony. I was out first and so didn't really know what to expect. The ground at the start was pretty muddy and claggy, so I was expecting it to be hard going, but I wasn't expecting 6-inch deep water around most of the course! The rain held off for most of the way, but the wind really kicked in at the end and that was a real killer.
It was good fun though, overall. As ever, it's always fun once you've finished. I was happy with my 27:30 for the 3 mile course (it was meant to be 5k but they apparently cut it short because of the weather - no idea what they cut out though as they obviously didn't avoid any 'wet bits'). I'll definitely do more cross country (as Graham pointed out, I have 6 or so months to come up with an excuse before the season really takes off again!), but maybe next time I'll wear warmer clothes.
Organised by Woodstock Harrier's running club, the event was held at Clanfield in Oxfordshire around a few farmer's fields. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perverse point of view), the weather had been 'rather inclement' over the past few days, and all night last night, so the ground was very wet and muddy. I bought myself some new Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 since they're designed for trail running and are more grippy than my normal running shoes.
It was a relay-style race, and I was in a mixed team of 4 from Eynsham Road Runners (I'm finally an official member), with Jane, Linda and Anthony. I was out first and so didn't really know what to expect. The ground at the start was pretty muddy and claggy, so I was expecting it to be hard going, but I wasn't expecting 6-inch deep water around most of the course! The rain held off for most of the way, but the wind really kicked in at the end and that was a real killer.
It was good fun though, overall. As ever, it's always fun once you've finished. I was happy with my 27:30 for the 3 mile course (it was meant to be 5k but they apparently cut it short because of the weather - no idea what they cut out though as they obviously didn't avoid any 'wet bits'). I'll definitely do more cross country (as Graham pointed out, I have 6 or so months to come up with an excuse before the season really takes off again!), but maybe next time I'll wear warmer clothes.
Results just in (thanks Lesley). I came 17th out of 31 and only 3 places behind Dan, which I'm pleased with. I also managed to keep about the same pace in Run 2 as I did in Run 1, which
is remarkable considering how hard it felt, so I'm very pleased with that.
This was a 3 mile/12 mile/1.5 mile duathlon, and my first duathlon ever:
Total time: 67.29
Run 1: 21:31
Bike : 34.17
Run 2: 10.46
This was a 3 mile/12 mile/1.5 mile duathlon, and my first duathlon ever:
Total time: 67.29
Run 1: 21:31
Bike : 34.17
Run 2: 10.46
I completed my first duathlon today (run-bike-run) with the Eynsham Road Runners. The email described the run as 'about 1 mile', so when I discovered it was 3 miles the first time round then 1.5 miles the second time I was a bit worried. But actually it went reasonably well, and I wasn't last (not even the last male!) My run training over the past few weeks has obviously paid off a bit, and the work I've been doing to improve my TT performance might also be helping.
The run route was 2 laps of Eynsham, then a flat 12 mile route out to Stanton Harcourt on the bike, then another lap of Eynsham. It was a perfect day for it with the sun out and little or no breeze.
The new bike felt good and I managed to pass many of the people that had gone dashing off on the run, and thankfully stayed ahead of most of them on the second run. Robin (the chap I'm doing the research study with) suggested when I did the initial 10 mile test with him that I change gear too often and that I should stick it on the big front chainring at the start, pick a reasonable gear at the back and then just aim to keep the cadence at about 85rpm. I tried that today and it felt right, giving me a good speed and a reasonable heart rate. I need to work on it a bit more though, as I ended the bike wondering whether I could have hammered it a bit harder.
Even though my bike legs felt good after 12 miles, my run legs suggested I had done quite enough already thankyou very much. It was really tough to get them moving and I felt as though I was barely plodding around the last mile of the course. It only lasted 10 minutes but it was bloody painful, and I can now see why Duathletes claim that their sport is harder than Triathlon.
The whole thing took 1:07:30 (ish - times to be confirmed...), which was 3 minutes slower than Dan, but he's a stronger runner than me so I'm quite happy with that. All in all a great new experience and a very fun day. A lovely cooked breakfast and some 'rehydration water' afterwards quickly flushed away any pain, too.
Oh, and I finally signed up as a member of the running club, so now I really have no excuses in future.
The run route was 2 laps of Eynsham, then a flat 12 mile route out to Stanton Harcourt on the bike, then another lap of Eynsham. It was a perfect day for it with the sun out and little or no breeze.
The new bike felt good and I managed to pass many of the people that had gone dashing off on the run, and thankfully stayed ahead of most of them on the second run. Robin (the chap I'm doing the research study with) suggested when I did the initial 10 mile test with him that I change gear too often and that I should stick it on the big front chainring at the start, pick a reasonable gear at the back and then just aim to keep the cadence at about 85rpm. I tried that today and it felt right, giving me a good speed and a reasonable heart rate. I need to work on it a bit more though, as I ended the bike wondering whether I could have hammered it a bit harder.
Even though my bike legs felt good after 12 miles, my run legs suggested I had done quite enough already thankyou very much. It was really tough to get them moving and I felt as though I was barely plodding around the last mile of the course. It only lasted 10 minutes but it was bloody painful, and I can now see why Duathletes claim that their sport is harder than Triathlon.
The whole thing took 1:07:30 (ish - times to be confirmed...), which was 3 minutes slower than Dan, but he's a stronger runner than me so I'm quite happy with that. All in all a great new experience and a very fun day. A lovely cooked breakfast and some 'rehydration water' afterwards quickly flushed away any pain, too.
Oh, and I finally signed up as a member of the running club, so now I really have no excuses in future.
Our friend Joe, over at Joseph Bloggs has been challenged by his brother-in-law to run the Grim Challenge, an 8 mile "Cross-country" jaunty in December (where "Cross-country" means cold mud, cold water and cold muddy water). This is where off-the-cuff bravado gets you, Joe - beware!
And muggins here has agreed to do it with him... I figure I'll be done with the triathlon season by October and will have time to train up for some off-roading. And anyway, the ERR crew keep telling me how wonderful cross-country is. Let's see where off-the-cuff bravado gets me.
Joe plays a lot of football (quite well too - or so he tells me), so is fit enough, but he doesn't do much "running" (as opposed to sprinting back and forth and falling over, which I think is the key skill in football). So he wants to know how fast and how far he can run. This is presumably so that when he puts a nice little wager down on himself he can do it with some accuracy.
We went out for a first run together this morning. I very rarely run "with" someone else (as opposed to "against" them), but as I've said before it can be very motivating and gives two great benefits:
I also made more use of my Nike+ and ipod, just to track our pace and distance. It really is a fantastic tool, and despite what I say about about real-life-people being motivating, I get a bigger buzz from Lance Armstrong saying "Well done" to me at the end of a long workout! I'll do a review at some point, but for now, and at last, here is the point of this article: the Nike+ website lets you graph your runs, so here, Joe, is our run. The 1st and 6th km are my runs from my house to the 'so called mid-point' between our houses. But the rest is pure Joe.
And muggins here has agreed to do it with him... I figure I'll be done with the triathlon season by October and will have time to train up for some off-roading. And anyway, the ERR crew keep telling me how wonderful cross-country is. Let's see where off-the-cuff bravado gets me.
Joe plays a lot of football (quite well too - or so he tells me), so is fit enough, but he doesn't do much "running" (as opposed to sprinting back and forth and falling over, which I think is the key skill in football). So he wants to know how fast and how far he can run. This is presumably so that when he puts a nice little wager down on himself he can do it with some accuracy.
We went out for a first run together this morning. I very rarely run "with" someone else (as opposed to "against" them), but as I've said before it can be very motivating and gives two great benefits:
- it allows me to run at a different pace from my normal plod (we started off more slowly because Joe only has little legs, but then sprinted like a bugger when we started discussing Fartlek sessions)
- the time seems to go more quickly when you have someone to chat with
I also made more use of my Nike+ and ipod, just to track our pace and distance. It really is a fantastic tool, and despite what I say about about real-life-people being motivating, I get a bigger buzz from Lance Armstrong saying "Well done" to me at the end of a long workout! I'll do a review at some point, but for now, and at last, here is the point of this article: the Nike+ website lets you graph your runs, so here, Joe, is our run. The 1st and 6th km are my runs from my house to the 'so called mid-point' between our houses. But the rest is pure Joe.
Today's 10k was much more fun than I expected and I managed to get round in just over 52 minutes. Fifty two minutes - Woof! Woof! I was expecting to take 56+ minutes, so I'm really delighted with 52. I even managed to speed up a little bit for the second 5k which was nice.
Firstly, I have to say that the race was really well organised and marshalled, so thanks should go to to everyone at ERR for their hard work. The weather was just right too (I don't think they organised that): mild, wind-free and a little bit sunny at times. The two-lap course of Eynsham is very flat and easy underfoot, with only the odd leaf-covered or grassy bit. As far as I could tell nobody fell on their arse or injured anything through slips.
This was my first mass start on a run - previously I've only done runs in triathlons which are never 'mass' run starts because everyone hops off their bike at different times - so it was interesting. I met up with Ollie and Liz on the start line and we discussed tactics and weather. Then in not time I was in the middle of the 'start line shuffle' that I've seen in the London Marathon so many times. Within a few seconds though I was jogging along at an easy pace and trying to work out what 56/10 was (maths is not my strong point!).
I'd agreed with Ollie that I didn't want any company on the way round - I didn't want to either slow him down on his 45-50 minute pace or go too fast in trying to keep up with him that I blew up at 6k. So we had a quick 1 minute chat and then he dashed off through a gap of slow-moving runners.
Firstly, I have to say that the race was really well organised and marshalled, so thanks should go to to everyone at ERR for their hard work. The weather was just right too (I don't think they organised that): mild, wind-free and a little bit sunny at times. The two-lap course of Eynsham is very flat and easy underfoot, with only the odd leaf-covered or grassy bit. As far as I could tell nobody fell on their arse or injured anything through slips.
This was my first mass start on a run - previously I've only done runs in triathlons which are never 'mass' run starts because everyone hops off their bike at different times - so it was interesting. I met up with Ollie and Liz on the start line and we discussed tactics and weather. Then in not time I was in the middle of the 'start line shuffle' that I've seen in the London Marathon so many times. Within a few seconds though I was jogging along at an easy pace and trying to work out what 56/10 was (maths is not my strong point!).
I'd agreed with Ollie that I didn't want any company on the way round - I didn't want to either slow him down on his 45-50 minute pace or go too fast in trying to keep up with him that I blew up at 6k. So we had a quick 1 minute chat and then he dashed off through a gap of slow-moving runners.
Continue reading Positive talking and ladies bottoms.
