Not feeling great, trying to prepare for Percy Pud on Sunday so decided to run at my recovery pace.  I took Sophie to the club so I had to be back for 7pm, Lee Watkinson also had to be back for 7 so we ran together, My HR was high for the first mile but it then dropped to my recovery zone which was ok.  Fairly easy run but legs aching for last mile, presumably because of my bit of a cold.

Lee is one of our most improved runners this year, he needs to get some races some ASAP so we can see where he is at.

1) 1m – 7:12(7:12/m) 156/175bpm 17cal
2) 1m – 7:21(7:21/m) 137/152bpm 100cal
3) 1m – 7:47(7:47/m) 139/149bpm 109cal
4) 1m – 7:36(7:36/m) 139/147bpm 104cal
5) 1m – 7:29(7:29/m) 144/151bpm 110cal
6) 1m – 7:39(7:39/m) 141/147bpm 103cal
7) 1m – 7:28(7:28/m) 140/152bpm 96cal
8) 0.09m – 37(7:07/m) 152/153bpm 10cal

I have aways run in Mizuno Cross Country Spike shoes.  The same pair for the last 6 years in fact.  The spikes seized up about 4 years ago so as this year started they were quite blunt and short, I ran 3 cross country races in them and then I decided to splash out and get some new ones due to having serious grip problems.

I went for the Saucony Grid Shay XC 3 and I took them for a spin on Sunday 24 November in the South Yorkshire Cross Country League at Campsall Country Park.  I ran with 12mm spikes in and I only had one slip in the entire race.  I also ended the race with dry feet.  The route was quite stoney for perhaps 15%  of the course and I think 9mm would have been better.  I bent some of the 12mm spikes and 1 broke.  I have got a painful right heal, this was caused by jumping ditches and landing quite heavily, hopefully this will not be a recurring issue when using these new shoes.  I think I like them which is a good job as my old Mizuno’s are in the bin.

On Sunday 24 November I made the short journey to Campsall Country park with Rose and Sophie, this was the third race in the South Yorkshire Cross Country League.  It was raining a bit when we got there but it soon dried up.  Up went my small “thunder run” tent next to the enormous tents from the other South Yorkshire clubs and we were all set.

Sophie raced first on her 1 mile loop, she had refused to warm up and was quite tearful but she ran well and was happy when she was finished, she then disappeared into the tent with her DS.

Rose ran at 12:00 with Caroline and Georgina from DAC.  All these ladies race week in week out for the Club with Caroline having recently (last week) competed for England at a Cross Country event at Cardiff, Georgena raced on the day before at Blackpool and Rose did the Abbey Dash last week.  Its a nice course and the ladies all did great.

The men’s race was off at 12:30, I did a lap with Richard  and Pete to warm up and to try to decide if I should put 9 or 12mm spikes in.  This is tougher than it sounds, I went with the 12mm option and just about got away with it, I think I should have gone for 9mm.  Richard ran with 9mm spikes and he thinks he should have run with 12mm.  One stream to jump (3 times, hurt my foot on this) or get wet and 2 stiles to climb 3 times.  The race went ok, minor back pain on the first lap after a ditch jump crossing.  I got passed about 400m from the finish, I let the fella get 10m on me but with 100m to go a put in a sprint, I got level with him, he sprinted but then backed off (1 second later and I would have backed off).

Its great to take part at an event where runners aged 8 – 80+ take part and support each other in a competitive environment, the South Yorkshire League is fantastic for this and Doncaster AC support these events in all age groups.

1) 1m – 6:18(6:18/m) 163/192bpm 37cal
2) 1m – 6:41(6:41/m) 161/166bpm 108cal
3) 1m – 7:02(7:02/m) 161/168bpm 115cal
4) 1m – 7:09(7:09/m) 159/164bpm 114cal
5) 1m – 6:55(6:55/m) 161/168bpm 110cal
6) 0.7m – 4:35(6:32/m) 163/168bpm 75cal

Track session 26 November

I missed last weeks track session due to running in the Time Trials.  Coach Dave Tune put on a good session tonight, 1 x 1600m with 2 mins recovery and then 10 x 600m with 1 min recovery.  The 1600 was great finishing in 5:59.  For those racing at the weekend we were told to run 8 x 600’s, my splits were:

1) 0.39m – 2:12(5:38/m) 152/164bpm 31cal
2) 0.39m – 2:08(5:28/m) 155/166bpm 30cal
3) 0.39m – 2:11(5:34/m) 154/166bpm 31cal
4) 0.4m – 2:13(5:34/m) 156/167bpm 32cal
5) 0.4m – 2:08(5:15/m) 160/169bpm 31cal
6) 0.39m – 2:11(5:35/m) 157/169bpm 32cal
7) 0.39m – 2:12(5:40/m) 157/166bpm 32cal
8) 0.39m – 2:12(5:37/m) 159/169bpm 32cal

Good session and well done to those who ran 10.  Really good turnout for the session.

Not really sure what this run was, mixture of recovery and threshold with the club – Set up a couple of segments for the STRAVA team to have a go on.  Bit of an ache in my stomach but looking forward to Campsall Cross Country on Sunday to try out my new spikes.  This will be my 12th race in  7 weeks.  Only 2 more to go until I can have a break lol.

Looking forward to volunteering at the Doncaster Park Run tomorrow, not running again until Sunday.

6 Oct Cusworth 10k

12 Oct – Park Run 5k

13 Oct – Hog Run 10k+

15 Oct – Time Trial

20 Oct X Country

27 Oct – Worksop Half

2 Nov – Pain Barrier

2 Nov – National Cross Country Relays

10 Nov – Cross Country

17 Nov – Abbey Dash 10k

19 Nov – Time Trials

The second time trials of the year Time trials completed in 31:53 (unofficial time).  This is nearly a minute down on last months time but not bad considering I raced the Abbey Dash 10k on Sunday and I ran yesterday.

Well done to everyone who took part.

1) 1m – 6:34(6:34/m) 189/224bpm 12cal
2) 1m – 6:32(6:32/m) 161/199bpm 64cal
3) 1m – 6:26(6:26/m) 159/166bpm 101cal
4) 1m – 6:41(6:41/m) 156/161bpm 101cal
5) 0.89m – 5:40(6:21/m) 159/168bpm 88cal

I am currently in the middle of a very intense winter race season, doing so many races does have an affect on my training but I’m just about “race fit” at the moment.  Percy Pud will be my last road race of the year so fingers crossed for that.

Today I ran a new 10k run through Sprotbrough, definable one to do again and quite hilly.

Tomorrow will be the Town Field Time Trials so no rest.