Haven’t posted one of these for a while so here’s this week’s training. The aim is to break my PB for half marathon at the end of September (70:57). I think my chances are 50/50 based on current training.
Monday: 8 x 1 mile off lap jog – 5:14/11/09/08/09/10/14/06, mile barefoot, ran home (15)
Today I went to my local running store with a rucksack on my back containing around 7000 miles’ worth of used trainers. The store has a collection bin for old running shoes which are then recycled or sent to other countries so that they can be re-used, and I took the opportunity presented by not being at work to have a clear out.
Although it was hard to part with shoes that had provided many happy running memories it is probably a good idea to get rid of old pairs. Hoarding is not a habit I want to get into at only 25 years old; I’m also well aware that running shoes hardly smell like roses and I value having an odour-free shoe cupboard. Here are some of the shoes I got rid of and their stories.
Shoe Number 1: Asics DS Trainer 16
These were bought last November because two of my mates had them and because they were red. I’m not joking. As it turned out, as well as being the most stylish trainer available they are surprisingly good for running in too. They are a lightweight pair of trainers that could even double up as racing shoes if needed, but are supportive enough for every day running. They are unquestionably the best trainers I’ve ever had. A few months ago I replaced them with the latest model, the DS trainer 17, assuming they would be exactly the same as their predecessors (runners are creatures of habit). Unfortunately these lacked the lightweight feel of the 16s and felt heavy around the heel. I emailed Asics to ask if this was the case or whether I was just imagining it. They told me there was extra cushioning in the heel. No wonder I didn’t like them as much. And they’re not red. The bastards.
Shoe Number 2: Asics Gel Hyperspeed 3
These beauties date back to October 2009 and are the first pair of racing flats I ever owned. Unfortunately at the time I didn’t realise they also came in red. Despite this they are an excellent pair of flats. As you can see from the picture, they have small square holes cut out of the sole to shave an extra few grams off the weight of the shoe and as a result are very very light indeed.
The first time I wore them was for the Coventry Half Marathon which took place the day after a cross country race I had taken part in. Despite having hammered myself in the mud the previous day I set a personal best time, which tells me two things. The first is that I was clearly on an upwards curve at the time and that that kind of thing would never happen these days. PBs are few and far between now and I have to work much harder for each second now. The second is that racing in new shoes buys you time like nothing else; the first run in a new pair is always the easiest.
Shoe Number 3: Brooks Green Silence
Just to prove that I’m not solely as Asics man, here is a pair of running shoes from Brooks, not to be confused with the legendary Dunlop Green Flash shoes. I first set eyes upon these at the 2010 London Marathon Expo and asked for them as a birthday present the following month. Their unique selling point is that they are biodegradable and made out of recycled materials. And they look awesome in asymetric red and yellow. These are primarily lightweight racing flats but I found them supportive enough for track sessions and tempo runs. These served me very well until recently when their biodegradable properties came to the fore, and I found a split down the side. They have now been replaced with exactly the same shoe again (I told you we’re creatures of habit) and despite Brooks now offering a vast range of colours, I plumped for the original red and yellow.
Shoe Number 4: Asics GT 2150
I liked this shoe so much that I bought it 3 or 4 times in a row. Slightly cheaper than the DS trainer, it was the shoe I first bought when I was a student and it is very good value for money. The 2150 (I think they’re on to 2170 now) is a solid, reliable cushioned trainer that enabled me to build up my mileage to the 70-80 per week range without getting injured too often. Now I’m used to it I can get away with a lighter trainer but this one served me very well.
I wish these shoes well in their retirement.
Today was a Plan B day. After a week of very little running due to work commitments I was keen to get a good week of hard training in. Well, in fairness the work commitment was a school cycling trip that involved several hours of exercise per day. But still, it wasn’t running.
I went down to the track this afternoon with a plan to do a session I hadn’t done in a while, namely 10×600 with half-lap jog recoveries, and a rough idea of how fast I wanted to do them. I jogged to the 200m start line and started my watch. By 300 metres I was hideously out of breath and by 500 my legs were giving up. I crossed the line in roughly the time I had hoped for, but knew there was no way my legs were going to allow me another effort, let alone another 9. I sat on the wall and thought about what I should do. Having not considered the possibility of feeling terrible, there was no Plan B but it soon became ‘run home, get in the shower and have dinner.’ Then the athlete in me kicked in, and put forward his own suggestion of running a short effort (maybe 800 metres or a mile) flat out, thus relegating the previous plan to C. I then started to think rationally. I still wanted to run something fast but there is no point doing a massive session if your legs aren’t up to it, so I opted for 6×200 off 200 jog, a completely manageable session even on tired legs. I went easy on the first two, clocking outside 30 seconds and then pushed it on the next four. I was disappointed not to run the session I had planned but was pleased to have at least got some quality in, even though it was only about one mile’s worth in total. I dragged my weary legs back home, taking a longer route home in the vague hope that a long cool down would help my legs loosen up. It didn’t.
The idea of binning your session and doing something else is one I got from a friend and training partner. It makes perfect sense, I suppose, but you never hear about the pros doing it. Does Mo Farah ever turn up at the track for a session and say ‘8 times one mile? Sod that. I’m going home to watch the Arsenal game.’ I doubt it. Does Geoffrey Mutai ever wake up before a 40k tempo run and say ‘You know what, I don’t really fancy it today. I’m going back to bed.’ Of he doesn’t, that’s why he’s better than me.
Screw being sensible, I’m sticking to the schedule in future.
Last night I took part in the 3000m at my club’s open meet, which also doubled up as the Warwickshire county championship race. The race itself had a very different feel to it; it took place at 9pm, much later than I have ever raced before, and there were over 20 people toeing the start line, many more people than there usually are in a track race. We set off in two starts, merging on the home straight after the first bend. There must have been 15 or 20 people ahead of me when we did. I thought to myself that I was either going to come last or that everyone had gone off pretty hard. I turned out that the latter was true.
I went through 400 in around 72 and spent the next couple of laps overtaking traffic in lane 2. The clock was at 3 minutes dead when I passed through 1k. At this point I passed my clubmate Martin who was bidding to win the county veteran title. Ahead of me was a runner from Bournville who had beaten me at 5k the previous week. After a couple of laps I caught him and tucked in behind. My 2k split was around 5:58. The pace started picking up with two laps to go and I just managed to hang on down the back straight. As the pace dropped with 500 to go I made my move and started kicking for home, and managed to surprise myself with my acceleration on the last lap. I held off the people just behind me and finished in 8:53, a big PB for me. Though I didn’t win the race overall (It was hard to tell with so many athletes on the track, but I think I finished 3rd), I was the first in the county championship race.
At exactly the same time last year I ran 8:59 in a time trial but this felt much easier. It’s interesting to compare my training with what I was doing last year and there are some subtle but important differences. I have been following a schedule put together by a friend, which has us running one session per week at target pace for 3k or 5k. This is supported with quicker than race pace intervals which makes the race pace sessions feel much easier. I’ve also cut the length of my long run from 20+ to around 16 miles, which gives me a bit more freshness when I’m trying to run hard track sessions a few days later. The main difference is that I’m not trying to cram too much in. As long as I do 3 out of short intervals/long intervals/tempo run/long run in a week I’ll feel I’ve trained well. A year ago I would have tried to do all four.
I’ll probably still look at my current training in a year’s time and decide that in fact it is all wrong, but it seems to be working for me at the moment.
One day off. A good track session. Slightly heavy legs for the race on Thursday. I reckon I can go 15 seconds quicker on that course with better conditions and preparation.
Monday: Rest (0)
Tuesday: 1600,1200,800,400. Recovery equal to next rep distance. 4:45,3:31,2:14,62. Hard. (11)
Wednesday: Long bike ride, 6 easy (6)
Thursday: Rowheath 5k, 4th in 15:56. Rainy and cold. (12)
Friday: 12 easy (12)
Saturday: 6 mile tempo in 32:59, 3 miles of sprint straight/jog bend (14)
