Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Rewriting The Record Books
by Russell Turner - 17:24 on 28 December 2018
Christmas over-indulgence (not that there’s been too much) doesn’t seem to have affected my running fitness – today, in what was the penultimate outing (if not the last) of 2018, I improved my best 10k time. Sadly, at 1:01:50 I’m still the wrong side of the hour mark but at least a sub 60 minutes time is in sight.
I didn’t set out to smash any records, just to run 6-10 miles depending on how I felt after the first couple, but as the second mile included a far-too-fast hill ascent (although I kept running) I opted for the low end of the target distance. After the hard climb (about a third of a mile) I cooled down enough on the third mile, a gentle uphill, to push harder on the fourth and fifth, both downhill, and was able to sustain that pace on the flat final 1.2 miles and knock a full five minutes off my previous best. Shame there’s no medal.
The pace was way faster than one I’ll ever run in a marathon, or even a half marathon (if I want to finish it) but speedwork is necessary to develop my abilities so we’ll say that’s what it was.
I’m continuing to look for half marathons I can fit into London Marathon training at the appropriate point, which will be March 17. There are lots in the south of England but none in Scotland; the Inverness Half the weekend before might have been tempting were it not for gigs at Foxes on the 8th and 9th. However, two possibles did arise: in Paphos and Wigan. The contrast couldn’t be greater.
The drawbacks re a sunny Mediterranean jaunt to Cyprus are cost and logistics; Lancashire’s is a punishing hill in the second half.
Surprisingly, Triathlon Cathy has encouraged me to try Wigan, even offering to run it too (whether or not as my pacer wasn’t made clear). I think she just wants to watch me suffer again, especially as she’ll only have to travel an hour from home to do so. Last year’s event was called off because of snow. And there’s that big hill.
Entry for Paphos closes in three days; entry for Wigan closes three days before the race, which possibly says it all. I suspect my big half marathon may end up being a run to Cromarty and back. But you never know.
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