Brunel 5K, and a PB!

I donned a brand new pair of running shoes last night (it's a model I know, so there were no concerns there) and went along to the 5K time trial that my club had arranged.

I don't really know where it came from, but I knocked 53 seconds off my PB with a time of 20:36!!  I'm really, really pleased, if a little shocked.  To be honest, I was hoping to PB tonight but I wasn't expecting that much time to come off.

The route is as flat as you can get, but my previous PB from July was also on a very flat route so they're comparable.

My previous PB was from a flat parkrun in Barnstaple last July, so it's taken a while to get under that 21-minute barrier.   It's good to get a PB early in the year as it's a confidence boost to show I'm on track for a sub-1:40 for a Half, which is still my main time goal.

Mile splits were a little uneven (6:33, 6:48, 6:40 and the last bit at 6:01 pace) but I'm really pleased, with an average of 6:39min/mile.  It was great conditions for it though, and my new trainers seem to suit me well!

Reading back to my post from July, I commented that I was disappointed that my second and third miles were slower than the first, and that was still the case here and I did feel it in that second mile.  I finished strong though, so overall I'm pleased with how I ran it and delighted with the PB.

I find myself starting to ask why it well.  I did have a rest day on Tuesday, and I have been eating different types of foods with plenty of veg.  I'm averaging 10-12 portions of veg a day at the moment.  Whether it was those things, or the new shoes, or a combination of lots of factors, my time is there in black and white so I'll take it!

Braunton 10

I got the Braunton 10 done on Sunday, but on the Friday a message was sent out from the organisers with the below.....

As I am sure you are all aware, tomorrow is going to be "violently stormy" with winds gusting up to 70mph and torrential rain throughout the day.

Anyway, Sunday came along and I left early to get to the race start in plenty of time as race numbers had to be collected.  It was very wet, and there was a warning that one of the area of the course would be flooded but that the route would not be changed.

A quick reminder of the course profile, and this is a trace from my own Garmin.  The bit that was flooded was at the top of the second hill, and it was knee high.

I took the two hills relatively steady, hoping to crack on after the second hill.  However, on the 6.5mile - 8.75mile stretch it was into a strong headwind and there was no respite whatsoever from the wind - honestly, it was really tough going with sleet driving into your face and a fierce wind.  If the knee height water didn't drench me, that section of road with the rain totally did.  I reckon it conservatively cost 30secs per mile in that section, but in reality probably more.

The race was basically in 3 parts.  Firstly, there was a big hill from mile 3 to 4 and secondly another one from 5 to 6.  Then it was more or less level or down hill to the finish.  The trouble is that those 2 and bit miles into the head wind scuppered any consistency in the section where I was hoping to get a move on, but in the circumstances I'm really pleased.  I'm using this as a benchmark and I think/hope I'm on for a sub-1:40 for a Half, based on clubmates I finished around and their half times.  We'll see!

My splits were 7:54, 7:31, 7:28, 9:42, 7:07, 9:08, 7:34, 8:21, 8:08 and 6:45 so I finished strong, which I'm really pleased about.  Having never down a road 10-miler, it was a PB too.....

This week will be interesting as I have two Championship races.  The first is on Wednesday and is a 5K time trial on a fairly flat road.  I'm hoping for a strong outing on this after all those weeks of off-road parkruns I've been doing and if the weather conditions are good I'm planning on giving it a good crack and I'm hoping to get a PB.  Next Sunday I have a 5 mile race and I've never ran a 5-miler before.  It's supposed to again be flat, but is on the sea front and is prone to strong winds, but again I'm planning on giving it a good go if the conditions are right.

We'll see how those two turn out!

Braunton 10

Two posts in one day......

I am doing the Braunton 10 tomorrow, which will be first 10 mile race so I'm guaranteed a PB presuming I don't DNF!!

The race is part of the club championship and it's described as "hilly".  From the race website:
"The first of two steep climbs so cut out the chat and dig in. Beware there are several bends on the climb that hide what is a long drag upwards, but it does end somewhere!"

The profile does look quite tough, but after 6 miles it's basically down hill to the finish, which is good news.

A summary is:
- it's an include to about 3 miles
- a steep hill from about 3 to 4 miles
- down hill from 4 to 5.2 miles
- a steep hill from 5.2 to 6.12 miles
- then down hill to the finish.

It is indeed very steep because when I compare this to the DMV marathon (which is itself steep!) this seems longer and possibly more severe.  DMV goes from 200ft to 400ft in about a mile and this goes from 200ft to 500ft in about a mile.

Having never done a 10 miler before, I'm not quite sure how to pace this one.  I plugged my recent 10K from Stoke Stampede into Macmillan and it suggests the below for 10M and 1/2 Marathon.

Bearing in mind that my A-race is a half marathon, I'd be really pleased if I can get close to 7:30min/mile tomorrow, but I can't really see it happening due to the hills.  We'll see.

Food!!

My wife and I have been tinkering with our food over the last week or so, with an aim of getting more fruit and veg in.  Our meals didn't need a massive overhaul anyway, but below was a fairly standard day of the last week.

Breakfast has stayed with porridge, honey and coffee, although I've added a banana.

Morning snack has changed to a handful of mangetout and either two carrots or half a pepper.  This used to always be an apple and banana, which I also used to have in the afternoon.  This will change depending on what is available on the shop.

Lunch has generally changed to 2 carrots, 2 celery, 2 hardboiled eggs, 2 tomatoes and a small amount of walnuts.  This is the meal that's changed the most.  It generally used to be sarnies (cheese or ham) and crisps, and this will change depending on what is available.

Afternoon snack has stayed at an apple and banana.

Evening meal hasn't really changed.  It's soup, some kind of roast, pasta or fish, all which have 2 or 3 veg in, and usually a glass of fresh juice.  When we wanted an "easy day" I usually just chucked some jacket potatoes in the oven; we're trying to stop this, and this week we've managed it.

Plenty of water throughout the day, but I did this anyway.  If I feel hungry on the evening, it's a jam sandwich or cereal and this hasn't changed although I do seem to be having these more often.

I haven't noticed any real improvements regarding feeling more energised, but I know this food is better even if it's still not perfect.  My weight has stayed stable over the last week (which is what I want), with the help of MyFitnessPal and obviously running.

3 hills challenge

I got along to the club session last night.  It was an interesting session that I haven't done before, called "3 hills challenge".

Basically, there are 3 hills that all start/end at the same point.  The session is to a) run hard down the first hill and jog recover up b) run hard up the second hill and jog recover down and c) run hard up the third hill (which is the steepest hill) and jog recover down.  Repeat this for 45mins.  A tough little session and my Garmin trace does look strange for this one.

Oh My Obelisk!

I got my second Club Championship race in yesterday, and I found it pretty tough.  It came under the "Long Off-road" category which was always going to be my weakest so I'm glad I've got it out of the way early in the year.  It means I don't have to do any other races in this category if I don't want to.

The race website says the course was 10 miles, the entry form says 11 miles and after a bit of investigation on Garmin Connect from last year's race it looked closer to 11.5 miles - my Garmin says 11:53.   In preparation, I'd done 4 sessions in the week (6 miles, 4.5 miles, 3.1 miles, 8 miles) all at a very easy pace so I was feeling relatively fresh on the morning.

This is the race profile, and it was very muddy in parts!

There were a large number of my club mates (31 in total) who did the event.  Although the course itself was quite nice with good views I did find it tough.  The first half is mainly uphill but the terrain on this part had some really muddy sections and I found it hard going under foot.  The second half wasn't so bad in terms of the terrain but I still struggled around in 1:44:58.  2 or 3 club mates beat me at this race, who I wouldn't necessarily have expected but it was good fun and it's another race completed which is the main thing.

Parkrun and First Chance 10K

First Chance 10K
This morning was the Exeter First Chance 10K, which is the first race that is a part of the Teignbridge Trotters Club Championship for 2014.  Yesterday (Saturday) I was really thinking that the race would be called off as a sponsor posted the  below picture which is part of the course.

However, late on Saturday the organisers posted that the race would be going ahead but at a later start time to miss the worst of the high tide.

I got to the start area this morning and it was annouced that the course would be changed, but it wouldn't be exactly 10K.  The organisers had said this would happen if it was particularly flooded, so I was expecting it anyway and my Garmin showed exactly 6 miles.  The ground was fine with no mud or really large puddles, but it was obviously very wet.  However, there were some really strong headwinds for a lot of the course and it was raining quite hard.  I don't overly mind the rain, but the wind was tough.  The profile of the course is as flat as you can get though, so that is one positive.

Anyway, after last week's 10K which I averaged 7:04 min/mile I had hoped to go off at 7 min/mile pace today with aim of seeing if I could sneak a PB if it had been a full course.  However, the first bit of the race was into a headwind so I couldn't do that and just ran to feel.  My mile splits were 7:11, 7:12, 7:09, 7:26, 7:03 and 6:52, which is an average of 7:09, and a time (according to my Garmin so not official yet) of 42:54.  It does mean that even if the course had been a full 10K I wouldn't have PB'd, but I'd say that is to be expected for the conditions so I'm quite pleased really.

Running as part of the club championship added another dimension to the race for me as well, and if I stay injury free and can complete it I think I'm going to enjoy it.  I overtook 4 club mates and had a 5th in my sights but couldn't catch him, and no one from my club overtook me today.  It's all friendly competition but I think I'm going to enjoy that part of it.  The next race is next weekend which is an 11 mile (approx) off road which I will struggle with in comparison to today, but I'll just do my best    I don't expect to come anywhere in the championship at the end of the year, but it means I'm going to do some different races which is what I'm looking forward to.

Killerton parkrun
My wife and I did Killerton parkrun yesterday and the organisers has warned to expect mud!  My wife had bought a pair of trail shoes earlier in the week and this was the first time she would be trying them out, and she really enjoyed it and said the shoes helped a lot.  It was the worst conditions I've seen at the parkrun but I enjoyed, as did everyone else.  I slipped and slid around in 24:08 and although I found it tough it was a nice little limbering up session for the 10K today.