I have been wanting to ramp up my speed on my shorter run and fully committed to that today. Concentrated for the full route and saw a marked increase in pace. The route took 15:17 mins instead of the 16 + minutes that it has been taking.
Tag: running
Monday 15th May – 3 miles
Intended to long run today but due to laziness got up late. Ran 3 miles at an average pace of 8:42 min/mile. Not great but at least I went!
Saturday 13th May – 3 miles, 26:31 mins
Had a long day of work on Saturday but gathered enough energy at the end of it to go for a run. Didn’t push too hard but was just happy to get out of the house. 8min48sec average split.
Fri 12th May – 8x1min intervals
Today saw a return to interval training, and felt very positive. 8x1min intervals embedded into a 3 mile route. Felt strong for all intervals and able to maintain concentration throughout. I especially find alternating focus between putting effort into the legs and putting effort into the arms helps maintain focus throughout.
Thurs 11th May – 5 miles
Had a mini weigh-in yesterday and found that I had lost mass on my week off down to 81.8kg. This inspired me to continue to increase my mileage as I rehabilitate so moved up to 5 miles today. The weather was hot (set out at about midday) and the route included a significant hill so the going was tough but didn’t feel like too much of a slog. Ended up averaging around 8:30 min/miles. Felt drained for rest of day.
Weds 10th May – 4 miles
I had only planned on running 3 today as part of my ramp up back into training after illness. However, the weather was beautiful and I felt inspired so decided to do 4 instead. Took it easy, doing around 8’30” min/mile pace but felt good and energised. Good stretching before and after to prevent injury after the week off.
Tuesday 2nd May – 2.35 miles short run
2.35 mines, 17 mins 14 secs
Today did I targeted a short-ish run to recover from the long run the previous day which I was still feeling the effects of. I extended my usual 2 mile route to about 2 and a half miles and tried to go at a moderate pace throughout. This averaged out at about 7:30 min/mile splits which was fine. Supplemented with some pullups.
Monday 1st May – Long run (7 miles)
7 miles, 70mins 7 secs
Couldn’t do the Park Run on Saturday due to work all day and shamefully missed Sunday due to hangover and laziness (although I did walk 4 miles) but was back today after 2 days off. Decided to use the morning I had free thanks to the bank holiday to do my long run which is up to 7 miles this week. Lucy wanted to do 10k (~6 miles) so I ran the mile to her house to pick her up then did the 6 miles with her to make up my 7. The route was largely cross-country in the area north of Garforth. We kept a very leisurely pace, talking all the way, but that is good for long runs which I use to build endurance and not speed. The relaxed pace was reflected in the just sub 10min/mile splits and 70 min total time. Despite the speed my legs are really feeling it this afternoon.
Thursday 27th April – 4 miles (slow)
Had organised to go running with Lucy at 8pm, met at my house under grey skies after heavy rain earlier in the afternoon. The session was mainly social so the pace was leisurely, an average of 8’51” minute miles. Put a bit more speed in for the last half mile after I left Lucy. Followed up with some pull-ups when I got home.
Tuesday 25th April – Short Recovery Run (2 miles)
2 miles, 16 mins 38 secs
I like to do a shorter run the day after a long run so I took a quick two miles around the block. Tried to keep it brisk but still ended up doing sub 8 min miles. In my defence about a third of the route is a long slow ascent. Supplemented the run by warming up with pull-ups at home – a warm up followed by 3×3 of both chin-up and parallel bar for a total of 18 (which according to fitbit burned 91 calories)
JH 