Tags
club championships, dilemma, dog running, faster times, Lymm Runners, manchester marathon, Mike Hall, PBs, stockport 10 mile, ultras, warrington way, wilmslow 10k
Well I’m certainly clocking up the miles running with the dogs, but I’m trying to find the balance where I actually get to run by myself as well. For most of the runs with the dogs I haven’t even bothered starting Garmin watch but it’s shown me that some weeks I’ve only run 5 miles by myself. Then when I do run by myself Strava has a message come up saying “this was harder than your usual run”…. Of course it was Strava! Then Milestone pod (yes I have data coming from all directions) shows my average run efficiency at 71%, but looking at solo runs its closer to 80% and I have seen it much higher.
Finishing October with well over 100 miles of running and another 60 plus miles of walking as well, my legs are feeling surprisingly fresh. This week I have run 38 miles with the dogs and 16 miles of walking with the dogs.
On top of this I’ve also had three solo runs. I nipped out earlier in the week for 2.2 miles just to see how I felt running a little faster, after already running that day for two hours with the dogs and also one hour of walking. Ended up with an average pace of 7.58 which felt really comfortable, with the second mile 7.40! This actually made me feel positive about running faster again.
Then yesterday I thought I’d nip out for a four mile run again focusing on running faster. Started off feeling amazing and my knees were coming up and my foot was landing exactly how it is supposed to on the toes and forefoot, so much so that the milestone pod recorded 49% toe and 15% midfoot. It felt really easy and effortless. I looked at my watch and the speed was 7.35 mile pace. I couldn’t quite believe it…I also got beeped a couple of times (ha ha) But then a mile and a half in the niggle that had been retriggered at the cross country a couple of weeks ago started again. I stopped and pushed on trigger points, stretched it and massaged it some and carried out. It still felt uncomfortable and I obviously had to slow down, but I am happy as I had intended on trying to achieve 8.45 pace and ended up with an average 8.46 pace, with the first mile a very comfortable 8.17.
After the niggle I decided not to go to the cross country this morning as I didn’t want slipping around in the muddy fields causing more of a niggle. I’m not sure now whether to carry on with the cross country and if I don’t do the cross country it’s very unlikely that I will stand a chance with the winter championship which also brings into question what exactly I want out of running because I have been thinking that the actual running club isn’t helping me because it only forces me to try and be competitive with myself and then I feel negative if I don’t do as well (see my earlier blog about the club standards). What I really want is to be faster, but I also want to run further….so why do I want to run further… so that I can look back at my life and say …. I did that!
So today I ran with Mike and we had a fabulous relaxing run at a steady 9.15 pace for 7.3miles. The niggle didn’t seem to bother me and it was totally enjoyable covering some of the sections of the first part of the Warrington Way….I am definitely do this next year – which I discovered this year forms part of the winter championship – but it seems silly to put this as part of the championship and not let anyone know until the places have already been taken… hence my dilemma about the winter club championship. Feeling very negative about it.
I should be running for myself, whilst finding a balance between the dog running and my own runs. This weeks with 36 dog miles and 13.5 miles – almost 50 of running. So where do I go – Championship / Ultra / Speedy 5ks etc. I know I want to get a PB on the 5k but I’m not satisfied with just a 5km run, and always want to go further. I still have it in my head about achieving a sub 4 hour marathon but Manchester which is a good one for a faster time just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I enjoy scenery and the country which is why the ultras appeal to me although many are tough because they are hilly and on difficult ground. But then that feels like the right way to go. I am wondering if I can focus on these longer distances because of the amount of miles I cover with the dogs whilst focusing on improving my speed on my solo runs and thereby achieve the new 5km PB. I’ve been a couple of minutes off my PB for some time which I achieved about two years ago.
Last Sunday I also went out with a new running friend who wanted to go on a hilly run, so I took him on one of my favourite road routes which has quite a few hilly sections to it. We crossed Grundy park, and we sprinted across and positively I was only 1 second off my best time across there which was as long ago as 2015!! That made me feel very happy! This new friend also trying to convince me to run the Manchester Marathon with him. I said I don’t fancy it, but he can keep trying to convince me…but if I don’t do that I’ll run the Liverpool to Manchester Ultra (albeit again this isn’t one I fancy – mainly because running 50 miles along the TPT doesn’t appeal but I’d rather do that than the Manchester Marathon). I’ve enter Stockport 10 mile so I’m hoping to see if I can run sum 80 minutes for it or see at least how close I can get. The only thing is you need to always run your own race, particularly the faster ones, because you need to run your own stride.
So I’m still not sure what to do. Still not entered Wilmslow 10k this year and that’s at the end of the month. I’ve done it every year since it started, so this would be the fourth year, and I’m starting to think what I need to do is new races and not revisit the old ones, but again this would be a good test to see how far off my PB target I actually am.
This week I’ve got a couple of more solo runs with friends organised and I’m really looking forward to catching up with my run friends – Georgina and Roger who are both running the Warrington Way next Saturday. I would have run it but I’m actually the official massage therapist for all the amazing running athletes who enter and finish the event and who actually want to have a massage. It’s going to be a long day for me too as I’ll be starting at 8am as well taking the first pair of dogs out walking and then again a bit later before starting at the race head quarters at around midday! Think I’ll be needing a massage at the end myself!