Yorkshire MT – Week 6

I went to Parkrun yesterday, mainly because I’d signed up for a special promo that Brooks Running were doing, for people to try out their shoes. I had still been feeling down about the poor long run from Friday, so it was a bit touch and go as to whether I could haul my sorry backside out of bed in time. It helps, in these situations, to arrange a lift with a mate, so that you’re not just responsible for yourself.

Gary came promptly at 8.20, and I lowered myself into his car. It requires some good thigh muscles to get in and out of Gary’s low slung grey BMW, muscles that were quite sore from the miles I’d managed to achieve from the day before. We had planned to go in early, to do the shoe swap and have a little jog about before Parkrun, but, as he drove to Birkenhead Park, I wondered how on earth I was going to manage it.

I’m not going to bore you with too much detail about Friday’s run. Usually, my easy running, for at least the first 10 miles or so, drops naturally into the 11 something minute miles, and I probably start slowing a bit after that. This time, they didn’t go below 12. At first, I thought that was good, thinking I was pacing it well, with a hope that I would have something in the tank to speed up with in the second half, but sadly, it went further south when I got into the teens. I had water, I had food and I felt fine to begin with but I guess it was just one of those days. I should have done 17, and I managed a slow 15.

Back to Saturday, and I decided, as the assistant pulled a disco pink pair of Brooks Hyperion shoes out for me, that I was just going to jog around. The very nice course PB I’d managed the previous week, seemed far beyond my capabilities, but it was proof that it does go right sometimes, as well as wrong. They had a variety of road shoes (no super shoes to try unfortunately) and I had chosen these as I’d never tried on a pair of ‘racing flats’. To be honest, I don’t fully know what that term means or whether these met the criteria, but walking around, I figured they were close. My heels felt lower inside the shoes, there was less cushioning, and definitely less between me and the ground. They felt very light as well, over 50g lighter than my normal ones.

Quite a number of people had signed up to try out a pair, and I did feel a tad guilty leaving my, still muddy from Tuesday, shoes in the cubby hole where the nice pink pair had been. Plus it seemed a bit of a waste to be wearing racing shoes when I was just going to jog round. They really would have come in handy last week.

I began nice and easy, and found myself alongside Ken, the regular 30 minute pacer. I found out, as we chatted, that he’d previously done the Yorkshire marathon, and he told me to watch out for the incredible view of York Minster, near the beginning. That was nice to hear, and got me feeling just a little bit excited about the big day. We carried on together for a good chunk of the first lap, and then I realised that my legs weren’t aching anymore, so I lengthened my stride on the downhill. It is nice to know that, not too long ago, a hard effort for me, was trying to get close to 30 minutes, and that now, I could chat happily with that pacer at a jogging pace.

I did go a little faster, just for the joy of it, on the second lap, but didn’t push too much, and I managed a nice dip under 29 minutes. The trial shoes might have had a hand in it, but I’m glad I got myself out of bed as I felt so much better after the run than at the beginning.

As we were heading out, we caught up with Mike, who is a sub 3-hour marathoner. He told me his wife had also struggled to get past 15 miles, and so she switched to Jeffing (the run/walk method promoted by Jeff Galloway). I know I’ve tried it in the past, but maybe it’s time to resurrect it again.

Today I went out for a gentle pootle, mainly to get my weekly mileage over the 30 miles mark, but also to try out a run/walk strategy. The crucial message I’d got from Mike yesterday was that your recovery is so much quicker if you use it. That is important for me, as I still struggle with having that stamina for the super long runs. So, I’m going to give it a proper go for the next couple of long runs, as opposed to when I get tired, and see where it takes me.

My Week’s Round Up.

Day	What I Did
Mon	Nothing – aside from walking around IKEA for three hours. That’s a workout in itself
Tue	Yoga – 30 minutes Strength – 10 minutes   Club Run – through the brambles and nettles and mud It was enjoyable, if you’re a glutton for spiky punishment, but I had a lovely bunch of people to run with, so I didn’t mind the fact (too much) that I came up with various midge and horsefly bites on my legs a couple of days later.   Run: 6.17 miles [9.93 km] Pace: 11.50 mins/mile [7.14 m/km]
Wed	Yoga – 30 mins Strength – 15 mins
Thu	Way too hot to do anything
Fri	Long Slow Run   Run: 15.15 miles [24.38 km] Pace: 13.08 mm [8.12 m/km]   Yoga – 30 mins
Sat	Parkrun Run: 3.14 miles [5.05 km] Pace: 9.13mm [5.67 m/km]
Sun	Steady Run with a 9 mins run and 30 seconds walk ratio Run: 6.34 miles [10.2 km] Pace: 10.57 mm [6.57 m/km]   Yoga – 30 mins Strength – 5 mins