AlexLee.eu

Monday 21 June
Rest day

Tuesday 22 June
7PM – 6.24m – Race – 49:21 – 7:55 – hr 171 (86% WHR)
Todays race was good it was the first of the HPRC Heritage Grand Prix at Holme Pierrepont and although I was hoping for a PB with it being a fast course I think the heat got to me. But I managed to not go off too quickly and stick within my HR zone pretty much all the way round which was my goal so all good.

Full race report here

Wednesday 23 June
5PM – 2.38 – Recovery Run – 22:12 – 9:20 – hr 145 (69% WHR)
This with hindsight should of perhaps been a rest day and I would be interested to hear other people thoughts on recovery runs between races and whether there is any benefit compared to the recovery runs we do between training sessions.

Thursday 24 June
7PM – 4.03m – Race – 29:21 – 7:17 – hr 171 (86% WHR)
I’d had stiff legs all day and was worried I’d over done it and they would be too tired for the race but by the end of the day they were feeling much better and great for the race. Again pretty much stuck to the HR zone throughout the race and in fact went above and beyond several times without any knows adverse effects.

Full race report here

Looking forward to next week’s 5k and a new PB by default but if I can get near or break the 21:47 prediction based on this result I will be happy but if I get under 20 I will be over the moon!

Friday 25 June
Rest day

Saturday 26 June
11AM – 26.86m – Cycle general – 3:21:39 – 7:30 – hr 98 (38% WHR)
Just a nice casual ride down the cloud trail which goes from Derby to Worthington in Leicestershire and back.

Sunday 27 June
Rest day

So weekly mileage = 43.74 +14.16 from last week.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

A short report for a short race, this was the second race in the series with a seemingly fast 4 miles around Rushcliffe Country Park in Nottingham. Weather was a lot nice as it was a lot cooler than Tuesday which was good.

I was looking forward to my first race at this distance not quite sure what I would be able to achieve but aiming for under 30 mins. The start was up hill but we had had plenty of room, I wasn’t far behind Pete when the gun went off and stuck pretty close for the first mile, again I was racing to heart rate but this still meant a very nice 6.45 first mile split but I was never going to be able to keep this up however so slowed a little to something slightly more comfortable.

First mile and second mile seemed short with my Garmin going off after the race marker and this was a little disconcerting however it all seemed to even up in the end I only wish the grass has been shorter for the start and finish as my sprint to the end resulted in me concentrating more in keeping myself upright and in the right direction than all out speed.

Still a great race and a new PB by default at 29.25 by official watches.

Garmin details

Some stats after the break –
continue reading…

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

It was the first of the four races today a nice fast 10k around Holme Pierrepoint, well it was a fast course but not fast weather. 36°C when I left work but I think more like 28-26 when I got the the race.

Arrived nice and early with about 45mins before the race was due to start and had a wonder around and a bit of a warm up not that I needed much of one. Following the herd I found the start and as I lined up was spotted by Zoe after a high and a good luck we were off.

Plan was to run in Zone 4 which for me is 85%-89% or 169-176bpm and see what happened and so thats what I did.

For the first half I was nicely passing people sometimes stopping behind someone for a moment to allow the HR to come down if it had peaked a bit and to catch a breath if I had got ahead of myself but the overtaking soon stopped as we got to the half way point. Unfortunately I let a few past me at that point as the heat was now starting to take effect and everyone was searching for shade so I settled down into a nice rythme and just saved myself to make sure I had a bit at the end.

With about 3K to go I realised I had someone sat on my shoulder and every now and then they would try and have a go fortunately this just spurred me on to keep them behind which I managed to do until the last 1K when I realised that they had more in the tank than me and speeded up beyond my reach as I got to about 400 metres I saw Pete walking back and gave him a wave before taking a deep breath and sprinting to the finish.

Official time 49:34

All in all a good run and I finally get to meet a couple of members of the club which was nice now to the next and a nice 4 miles on Thursday for race 2.

Garmin details which shows it all nicely.

Because I’m stats mad here are a few details after the break –
continue reading…

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Not a great deal to say this week it is another easy week due to races coming up next week I did however find out that my min heart rate has change or maybe I had it wrong initially but it is now 41bpm down from 50. I’m not sure what difference or effect this has made/ had if any so not worried about it.

Monday 14 June
Rest day

Tuesday 15 June
6PM – 6.67m – Recovery run – 1:00:00 – 9:00 – hr 148 (69% WHR)

New min HR

Wednesday 16 June
9AM – 5.05m – Cycle commuting – 23:51 – 4:43 – hr 140 (66% WHR)
It was a lovely day so decided to cycle into work, not sure if I will make a habit of it or even recording the details here but why not this time, really enjoyed it so maybe I will

Wednesday 16 June
12PM – 3.15m – Recovery run – 27:51 – 8:50 – hr 144 (68% WHR)
Went out with a colleague again, little shorter than perhaps I would have like but was a lovely run on a lovely day.

Thursday 17 June
Rest day

Friday 18 June
12PM – 3.21m – Race pace – 24:24 – 7:36 – hr 163 (81% WHR)
Entered a team relay event with some colleagues from work (Derwent River Relays) and this was a silly run to see what kind of pace I have over the distance.

Had a 1 mile recovery run back to the office after but no point putting stats of that here.

Saturday 19 June
12PM – 10.5m – Recovery run – 1:41:31 – 9:40 – hr 146 (70% WHR)
Not running tomorrow and fancied a nice long one to burn off the pizza, beer and disappointment at last night’s game, nuff said…

Sunday 13 June
Rest day
Diving in the AM and then 60th birthday in the PM so no running today.

So weekly mileage = 29.58 +6.74 from last week.

Next week I am supposed to be starting my 12 week training plan leading up to the Nottingham half but races are going to delay it by a couple of weeks as I have entered the Holme Pierrepont grand prix with Tuesday being the first race and a nice 10k

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Monday 7 June
Rest day

Tuesday 8 June
5PM – 6.93m – General – 1:00:00 – 8:39 – hr 157 (75% WHR)
I went out for a run and expected myself to be a little stiff and aching even the return of shin splints etc but was pleasantly surprised to find none of the above and I even had plenty to up it from a recovery run to general which was good and one of the best paces I’ve had on a general run since swapping to heart rate training.

Wednesday 9 June
12PM – 4.19m – Recovery run – 37.43 – 9:00 – hr 147 (68% WHR)
Went out with a colleague again nice improvement on last week, I may have pushed her a little too hard but she coped well and it was a good run.

Thursday 10 June
12PM – 6.96m – General run – 1:00:00 – 8:37 – hr 156 (75% WHR)
Good solid run felt good.

Friday 11 June
Rest day
Didn’t manage to get out for a run

Saturday 12 June
Rest day
Although not quite as went to the gym and had a good session on the rowing machine and bike before a swim.

Sunday 13 June
2PM – 4.75m – Casual run – 42:55 – 9:02 – hr 155 (74% WHR)
Was supposed to be a nice recovery type run hopefully getting into double figures but wasn’t aiming to push. I was in Sheffield though and it was raining, on the downhills my shins had a shooting pain every time the foot landed and then going up the calfs weren’t great so ended up cutting it short. Bit disappointed to be honest.

This was another week where I decided to ease up after the mileage I did last week.

So weekly mileage = 22.84 -20.92 from last week.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Tuesday 1 June
12PM – 6.59m – General run – 1:00:00 – 9:06 – hr 155 (74% WHR)

Wednesday 2 June
12PM – 4.14m – Recovery run – 39:12 – 9:28 – hr 147 (68% WHR)
Went out with a colleague for a nice gentle run, was nice not to have the watch beeping at me for having a hight heart rate and then to find I was on target as well was even better.

Thursday 3 June
12PM – 6.36m – General run – 1:00:00 – 9:26 – hr 158 (76% WHR)
Not much to say other than for most of the run I had my watch beeping at me telling me my heard rate was too high and whatever I did I couldn’t get a nice pace going oh and the flies grrrr!

Thursday 3 June
9PM – 3.26m – Recovery run – 32:30 – 9:58 – hr 146 (68% WHR)
Not part of the plan but after cooking, cleaning, washing up I thought what else I could do and decided on a run to ease the troubles of the day and at that time of night was very nice and did the trick.

Friday 4 June
12PM – 6.4m – General run – 1:00:00 – 9:23 – hr 157 (75% WHR)
Put sun cream on for this race decided against asking my colleagues to help apply it to my back mind…. More flies and more annoying beeps from the watch which almost made it into the river with frustration I think I may give running at lunch time a miss unless it is cool.

Saturday 5 June
Rest day

Sunday 6 June
9PM – 17m – Progressive run – 2:42:18 – 9:33 – hr 156 (75% WHR)
Was going to run in the Sinfin Classic but decided to have a weekend off and get some long distance training in. First couple of miles my legs were tight and stiff but they soon eased off and had no problems at all until coming to the last three when they started to get tired but an enjoyable run.

So weekly mileage = 43.76 +30.93 from last week.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Big improvements in terms of distance over previous months but no discernable performance improvements but then I find it hard to tell with this type of training as I am generally running slower than I would normally oh and it is obviously far too early anyway to be spotting any improvements in the first month of a new training plan and way of training and I’m pleased just to have picked up the mileage with no ill effects!

Month total – 87 +48 From April

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Weekly report beginning 24 May –

Monday 24 May
Rest day

Tuesday 25 May
12PM – 3.31m – Recovery run – 30:00 – 9:04 – hr 148 (69% WHR)
This was my first run after the race on Sunday wasn’t feeling 100% and needed to rest this week so thought I would go out for a little one just to see how the legs coped. Was a nice run and felt ok but I was glad to have only done a little one as I think any longer and I might have started to suffer.

Wednesday 26 May
Rest day

Thursday 27 May
5PM – 9.52m – Recovery Run – 1:30:00 – 9:27 – hr 150 (70% WHR)
Didn’t get chance to run at lunch time so went for one as soon as I got home, knowing I wouldn’t get to run over the weekend and hadn’t done much so far decided to go out for a little longer but still keep it at a recovery run, was a really nice run out in lovely weather down by the river as usual had a little breeze blowing but I didn’t mind this at all.

Friday 28 May
Rest day
Driving to the Farne Islands for a diving weekend!

Saturday 29 May
Rest day
Diving in the Farne Islands.

Sunday 30 May
Rest day
Diving in the Farne Islands.

So weekly mileage = 12.83 -17.24 from last week but this week needed to be a rest week after increasing for the last three.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Sunday 23 May
9AM – 6.21m – Race – 53:34 – 8:38 – hr 170 (85% WHR)

Well like everywhere else in the country it was hot, I did hope that with a 930 start I’d finish before it got too hot but that wasn’t to be.

Got there 830 it was already 18* according to the car, to be told at 915 the start would be delayed by 15 mins because of parking and traffic problems. We were then told at half past this would be more like 10 and in the end it was about 950 we kicked off.

Set off and after half a mile hit the first hill accompanied by some sheep who obviously disturbed by a flock of runners on their land were trying to beat a retreat to safer grounds. Unfortunately this involved crossing the path of the runners, a shriek up ahead indicating some had already tried and the next bunch were eyeing me up. But we managed to avoid too much confrontation a runner next to me made me giggle with his comment “You don’t expect that do you” having that ringing in my head in a Welsh accent tickled me for quite some time after.

Good news was this was pretty much the first and last hill, bad news is we didn’t stop climbing until we’d reached the half way point.

First drinks station was a shambles, only two maybe three people on it desperately trying to fill McDonalds cups and queues forming as I got there so decided to press on.

My left calf was tight and painful but bearable and my right leg had a shin splint which never actually made it out but niggled threateningly.

After a gruelling two and half miles we finally reached the top having climbed 273m our only respite being that a lot of it had been under the cover of trees.

Unfortunately I had pretty much knackered my leg and myself so on the downhill I had to ease off to try and recover a little for the all important sprint finish.

The downhill was pretty uneventful the only annoying this was at time it seemed more like a cross country or fell run and some of the steep bends on slippery surfaces seemed almost dangerous.

Got to the last 400 yards picked up a bit, high fived a mate who’d come to watch to then see a mutual friend sprint past me and I tried but just didn’t have anything left, crossed the line in a disappointing 53:34 on my Garmin later to be confirmed as 53:38 officially.

When I got back in the car temperature had reached 30* popped to Chatsworth Farm shop and then to beer garden for my reward

Garmin details

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Monday 17 May
Rest day

Tuesday 18 May
5PM – 6.3m – General – 1:00:00 – 9:31 – hr 156 (75% WHR)
Having had a couple of days off I was really up for a run and raring to go however it seemed like another case of mind over body and while I was up for it my body or more importantly my legs weren’t I had the worse shin splints I’d ever had although again after about 30 minutes they seemed to have disappeared but with a race coming up I need to ease up a little.

Wednesday 19 May
1PM – 5.97m – Recovery Run – 1:00:00 – 10:03 – hr 146 (68% WHR)
This was my first recovery run and I was expecting to be crawling along but to be honest I didn’t find it too bad, I kept wanting to push faster and my Garmin kept beeping furiously until I got the HR back down again but it was a good run oh and not a shin splint in sight

After my lunch time run I had a friendly football match that had been setup by work, a pitch takeover of Pride Park stadium where Derby County play. This could have been a mistake with a race coming up, firstly I have a new found respect to football players, they still don’t deserve the over inflated wages but having played for 20 mins I was pooped. The pitch suddenly seems a lot bigger once you get on it and although I would think I’m reasonably fit I found the sudden burst of energy to chase down players and stretch for the ball got tired quickly, by the end I bruised and gashed shins and a calf injury things didn’t look good oh and we lost 3-0 and I scored one of them

Thursday 20 May
2PM – 6.08m – Recovery Run – 1:00:00 – 9:52 – hr 147 (68% WHR)
Wasn’t sure if this was going to happen at all with my calf aching the night before it didn’t feel much better when I woke up but I took my kit to work anyway, ever the optimist but by lunch time it was feeling much better so I gingerly went out wanting to know what I could do and how bad Sunday may be. The result a nice run with a good feeling about legs and my upcoming race and the only bad thing the number of flies!!

Friday 21 May
12PM – 5.79 – Recovery Run – 1:00:00 – 10:22 – hr 149 (70% WHR)
Hot, hot, hot! Legs felt heavy and as if someone had drained energy out of them, it was also difficult to keep my heart rate down oh and small shin splint in my right leg too did I mention it was hot? Oh but less flies today will rest tomorrow and then do my best Sunday got a horrible feeling I may have overdone it with my training though, caught up with Stephen on the way in and going to take a different approach on Sunday and not race to a pace or set time target like I usually to but race to HR aiming for 85-90% I still want to get under 45 min but not as confident as I was earlier.

Saturday 22 May
Rest day

Sunday 23 May
9AM – 6.21m – Race! – 0:53:34 – 8:38 – hr 170 (85% WHR)
I won’t repeat what’s in the the event report other than to say apart from the weather I think the main reason for poor performance is over training I didn’t do myself any favours

So weekly mileage a shocking 30.07 +7.3 from last week which says it all, I was supposed to be easing up after increasing by about 5 miles for the last two weeks and although I did do mostly recovery runs instead of general it wasn’t enough.

I have already chastised myself but feel free, must rest more this week.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites