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RE: Half a Marathon onward ...
Tuesday 30 April update
Oh, I should have read my own blog and remembered how I hate the heat!
After a good tempo run on Thursday, and a curious park run Saturday (more below), Sunday saw a lovely Twitten Run outing and then 13km later in the day. Wrongly thinking it would be cool along the tree-covered flattish Cuckoo Trail, I wore a double layer (long sleeve under short sleeve Sheffield HM top). And gloves ...
We set off at reasonable and steady 5:!5-5:30 pace ... and by 6km we had had a nice chat to fellow runner who was training for Derby half ... and then turned to head back.
And I started to feel a bit hot ... gloves came off .... Still hot ... neckwear off ... and still not cooling ... started to feel uncomfortable.
But such is the effect of heat on my brain, I didn't think to take off any layers. Indeed part of my brain thought - this might be quite good acclimatisation for hotter days to come.
Totally foolish and by the time I actually took off the top layer, then I was overheated ... and plodding along, unable to even reach 6:30 per km.
I was almost staggering by the end and only Paula's guidance made sure I was OK.
Big lesson and reminder that I am much better off risking getting cold (which I rarely feel and recover from very quickly) and not risking being hot.
Hey ho ....
Saturday parkrun along the seafront at Seaford beach the day before was a much better experience. The winds were predicted fierce westerly, meaning on the way out you would be boosted along, and on the way back seriously impeded. And this was the first time the park run were going to be using pacers ... I had volunteered to do 25 mins. Testing out the wind, it looked like adding between 45s-1min between the pace out and back - as we tried to keep steady 6 min effort pace (which turned into 5:30 going east and 6:30 going west). I also chatted to the 30 min pacer - and he was going for a similar 45s difference.
So I resolved to go 4:35 out and 5:25 back ... setting off we were soon finding 4:35 quite hard to stick too, since the wind pushed us to more like 4:15. But I stuck to my guns ... no-one was actually taking any notice of my pacing since the crowd was quite a lot down, and I had only a yellow high-viz without a number.
At the 2.5km turn, the 5:25 pace seemed OK to hit, but it soon became clear that this would mean more sustained power was needed ... so I dug in, more out of pride than necessity. I passed a few who had gone out fast, but who found the wind in their face just too much. A couple - who I knew did 22 or 23 min times normally had opted to walk for a section ... it was brutal. I kept passing and being passed by Brian Courage (new MM director) who was not enjoying the buffeting (who would!)
I dug in again and - perhaps having held back on the first half - I managed a fairly steady pace, and reached the line with 15 seconds to spare - there was BC just behind and I ushered him through ahead of me, reassuring him a sub-25 (normally a thing of ease for him) awaited! We had to shoot off early so no celebratory coffee ...
The next day the Twittens were a much less windy, and a joyous bounce around the course for me - having missed them. The later in the day we headed for the Cuckoo trail ... and its heat and discomfort as relayed above.
But today - Tuesday - was a much happier outing around the paths of Regents Park with a 4 x (fast 750m/ jog 500m) set to get back to the Asics plan.
And looking at the stats as I head home, I find I have completed a total of over 140km this month - making this the fifth month in a row where I have passed that mark.
Consistency, the hobgoblin of little minds and the secret of good run training ...
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Half a Marathon onward ...
