I am now easing back on my Marathon Training, I have run 550 miles in the last 3 months and about 135 of those miles have been in 15 races, everything from 3000m on the track to 21 miles on the trails – these are my tough training runs, some quicker than TMP, some at TMP and some slower than TMP but at 100% effort. My other tough session is a weekly track session at my running club, typically my reps are at or quicker than 5km pace.
This week was a welcome return to the South Yorkshire Road League. I did not take part last year because I was worried about them messing up my London attempt, I am not worried this year.
Provisionally I finished in 17th place, first V40 man. I was not feeling well so did not start on the front, I held back for about half a mile, then decided I probably felt ok and got in to the race a bit more, mile 2 has a nasty climb so did not go mad on that and we had a nasty head wind at the top of the hill for a while. I knew mile 3 had a brilliant descent so I took that as fast as I dare. Mile 4 is another climb and I was delighted to finish strong putting in a 5:25 minute mile to finish with.
By my quick reckoning the Doncaster Athletic Club Vet Men’s team is in 1st place after the first race. I have completed this race 4 times and you can see my progress listed below. #Sub30 next year. This shows my long term progress, steady progress I accept but hoping for a few more years of improvements to come.
| Mile | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 |
| 1 | 6:30 | 6:22 | 5:58 | 6:07 |
| 2 | 7:02 | 6:57 | 6:42 | 6:43 |
| 3 | 5:20 | 5:21 | 5:26 | 5:06 |
| 4 | 7:32 | 7:22 | 6:57 | 6:48 |
| 5 | 6:09 | 5:52 | 5:37 | 5:25 |
| Finish | 33:06 | 32:20 | 30:57 | 30:30 |
Conditions were ok, it was a bit wet to start and at times we had a strong head wind. It was warm, perhaps 15 degrees. I am grateful that the league is happening this year as it was in doubt.