Horringer School, West Suffolk Hospital, Cullum Rd, Newmarket Rd Bury St Edmunds

5.30pm 5.4 miles in 43 mins 37 secs

Week to date mileage 5 miles

Month to date mileage 98

Average weekly rate 29 miles

Average monthly rate 127

Year to date 237

Lifetime 9830

A slow run after yesterdays race

14 Feb 07 43.53
29 Jan07 42.46
3 Jan 07 42.13
19 Dec 06 41.50
7 Dec 06 43.45
7 Nov 06 42.33
10 Nov 06 42.02
30 Oct 06 42.0
3 Oct 06 41.15
19 Sep 06 41.39
8 Sep 06 41.01
1 Aug 06 41.45
28 July 06 42.25
17 July 06 42.46
13 June 06 42.08
11 May 06 43.21
27 Mar 06 42.41
8 Mar 06 42.13
24 Feb 06 42.33
16 Feb 06 44.0
10 Feb 06 41.50
2 Feb 06 42.38
17 Jan 06 42.50
10 Jan 06 42.52
1 Jan 06 41.45
14 Dec 05 42.47

Bury Nearly 10 Nowton Park

10.30am 9.4 miles in 1 hr 14 mins 11 secs

Week to date mileage 23 miles

Month to date mileage 93

Average weekly rate 29 miles

Average monthly rate 126

Year to date 232

Lifetime 9825

In a less than confident mood I took part in this mornings Bury Nearly 10 race from Nowton park. The main race and better supported event is the Bury 20 which also set off at the same time at 10.30am.

I have been running poorly without any feeling of much energy or drive and after a few miles I seem to seize up and slow down. I am a year older but I still expect to improve my times compared to last year.

However much more important is the taking part and there was a good attendance. The course takes in a number of small villages and hamlets including Nowton,High Green,Pinford End and Mickley Green.

I eventually finished 38th out of 129 finishers , 44 seconds slower than last year. I don't have any mile splits. I also finished 38th in 2006 when there was 127 finishers. My finishing time shows a few seconds difference to my personal time due to the congested start and time to cross the start line. The first section of the race is within Nowton Park and after the recent rains it was slippery and muddy to begin. The section up to High Green is aptly named but generally the course is fairly flat apart from a steep section near the end of the race coming back into Nowton.

Westley Rd/Newmarket Rd/York Rd Circular Run Bury St Edmunds

8.30am 3 miles in 24 mins 54 secs

Week to date mileage 14 miles

Month to date mileage 83

Average weekly rate 29 miles

Average monthly rate 123

Year to date 222

Lifetime 9815

A short easy run before tomorrows Bury 10 race.

Cullum Road,Ramada Hotel, Newmarket Road, Bury St Edmunds

5.30pm 5.4 miles in 42 mins 1 secs

Week to date mileage 10.8 miles

Month to date mileage 80

Average weekly rate 29 miles

Average monthly rate 126

Year to date 219

Lifetime 9812

2006 21 Feb 42.10
2006 25 Jan 42.32
2006 21 Dec 41.35
2006 5 Dec 41.48
2006 3 Nov 42.37
2006 24 Oct 41.10
2006 19 Oct 41.08
2006 6 Oct 41.06
29 Sep 42.10
29 - Aug 40.40
27 Jul 40. 47
13 Jul 41.11
6 Jun 41.33
18 May 41.18
7 Apr 40.30
7 Mar 41.31
3 Mar 41.34
21 Feb 41.35
27 Jan 41.56
13 Jan 41.30
2 Jan 42.42
2005 23 Dec 43.34
9 Dec 42.0
6 Dec 42.04
29 Nov 42.17

Cullum Road,Ramada Hotel, Newmarket Road, Bury St Edmunds

5.30pm 5.4 miles in 42 mins 10 secs

Week to date mileage 5.4 miles

Month to date mileage 75

Average weekly rate 28.8 miles

Average monthly rate 125

Year to date 214

Lifetime 9807

Using a new pair of Asics Gel GT 2110 from JoeJogger. My previous pair have managed over 500 miles and unlike every other pair of running shoes I have had the tread on the edge of the shoes hasn't worn completely away. Even so after 500 miles it is better to replace.

2006 25 Jan 42.32
2006 21 Dec 41.35
2006 5 Dec 41.48
2006 3 Nov 42.37
2006 24 Oct 41.10
2006 19 Oct 41.08
2006 6 Oct 41.06
29 Sep 42.10
29 - Aug 40.40
27 Jul 40. 47
13 Jul 41.11
6 Jun 41.33
18 May 41.18
7 Apr 40.30
7 Mar 41.31
3 Mar 41.34
21 Feb 41.35
27 Jan 41.56
13 Jan 41.30
2 Jan 42.42
2005 23 Dec 43.34
9 Dec 42.0
6 Dec 42.04
29 Nov 42.17

Bungay 20k - 2007

11am 20km in 1hr 39 mins 19 secs

Week to date mileage 28 miles

Month to date mileage 70

Average weekly rate 29.8 miles

Average monthly rate 130

Year to date 209

Lifetime 9802

Bungay is an interesting historical Suffolk market town close to the Norfolk border. Familiar to me as the home of Steve Earl Football Programmes.

Bungay has a very active running club putting on arguably the best road races in the Suffolk race calender.The Black Dog Running Club has an excellent web site where you can find out much more.

I entered todays race not feeling very confident after recent poor training times. The weather was fairly good although a little breezy. There seemed to be a very good entry for the 20k race and it was afterwards confirmed that there were 630 entries.

As the race was marked every kilometre the split times seemed to be constantly passing. I recorded the following times

1km 4.47
2km 9.32 km split 4.45
3km 14.20 4.48
4km 18.54 4.34
5km 23.32 4.38
6km 28.08 4.32
7km 33.01 4.53
8km 37.52 4.51
9km 42.36 4.44
10km 47.31 4.55
11km 52.21 4.50
12km 57.21 5
13km 1.02.20 4.59
14km 1.07.42 5.22
15km 1.12.32 4.50
16km 1.17.45 5.13
17km 1.23.04 5.19
18km 1.28.22 5.18
19km 1.33.50 5.28
20km 1.39.19 5.29

I clearly faded in this race from the half way point. I was happy with my time at half way of 47.31 for 10k which was the sort of time I was racing last year but once again as in my training my legs seemed to seize up and I lacked any real energy and I began to tread water as runners started to pass me. The real slow down occurred on the final 5km but there was nothing I could do but to just to run through to the finish.

The race orgnisation is excellent and the soup at the finish was very welcome. A goodie bag contained an Elgood's Brewery Beer, pity it is not still sponsored by the local St Peters Brewery with their distinctive oval shaped bottled beers. Nevertheless it was a good bottle of beer.

I will be back again for another crack at this. I don't recall running this distance before which if you insist in converting back to miles is around 12.4 miles. The course is generally flat though there are 2-3 sharp hills at the beginning and finish of the race.

As usual I have many photos of the race which I am steadily loading on to my flickr site which you can view at the link here or on the left hand column of this page where you see the rotating photos.

Chaddesden Derby

7.30am 5.5 miles in 45 mins 2 secs

Week to date mileage 16 miles

Month to date mileage 57

Average weekly rate 30.5 miles

Average monthly rate 133

Year to date 196

Lifetime 9789

An early morning run at a place called Chaddesden which is about 2 miles from the centre of Derby. I ran mostly over Chaddesden Park avoiding the many dogs before deciding to run into Derby passing the Derbyshire Cricket Club ground.

Horringer School , West Suffolk Hospital , Cullum rd , Newmarket rd - Bury St Edmunds

5.30pm 5.4 miles in 43 mins 53 secs

Week to date mileage 10 miles

Month to date mileage 52

Average weekly rate 30.3 miles

Average monthly rate 132

Year to date 191

Lifetime 9784

I am struggling with my running at the moment. I was very slow tonight. It just seems I have no energy to push on and that I have just one slow speed. Obviously I have just had a heavy cold and this is bound to take a while to get over but if anything I have been putting in some good training aiming to do some quality training including hills and track.

However it seems I have over done it perhaps? Though I have always thought with running you only get out what you put in so the better quality training should be paying off but if anything I am I am slowing down. Obviously there is a fine line to be drawn and I will have to see how the next few weeks go.

29 Jan07 42.46
3 Jan 07 42.13
19 Dec 06 41.50
7 Dec 06 43.45
7 Nov 06 42.33
10 Nov 06 42.02
30 Oct 06 42.0
3 Oct 06 41.15
19 Sep 06 41.39
8 Sep 06 41.01
1 Aug 06 41.45
28 July 06 42.25
17 July 06 42.46
13 June 06 42.08
11 May 06 43.21
27 Mar 06 42.41
8 Mar 06 42.13
24 Feb 06 42.33
16 Feb 06 44.0
10 Feb 06 41.50
2 Feb 06 42.38
17 Jan 06 42.50
10 Jan 06 42.52
1 Jan 06 41.45
14 Dec 05 42.47

Moreton Hall

5.30pm 5 miles in 40 mins 24 secs

Week to date mileage 5 miles

Month to date mileage 46

Average weekly rate 29.5 miles

Average monthly rate 128

Year to date 185

Lifetime 9778

I finally had to give in to the cold and after nearly a week of no running I was fairly sluggish as I set out for this run out to Moreton Hall and back. I ran up to the Flying Fortress on an out and back run running out in 20.01 before slowing on the return to 20.23.

Bury St Edmunds Town Centre

8am 1.6 miles in 13 mins 49 secs

Week to date mileage 14 miles

Month to date mileage 41

Average weekly rate 32.4 miles

Average monthly rate 141

Year to date 180

Lifetime 9773

A short run this morning I dropped my car off to have a couple of new wheels and rather than walk home I ran back. I had planned to go a lot longer but even with gloves my hands were frozen to the point of being painful.

I couldn't concentrate on the running. All I could think about was the cold and I decided to cut the run short and instead of running through Fornham I headed back towards town through the Mildenhall Estate and along Risbygate St and Westley Road.

Bury St Edmunds Town Centre

5.45.pm 5 miles in 41 mins 2 secs

Week to date mileage 12.5 miles

Month to date mileage 40

Average weekly rate 32.9 miles

Average monthly rate 143

Year to date 179

Lifetime 9772

With a heavy cold I kept my run short this evening and gave the track a miss. Not sure I should have run at all as I felt a bit lead footed.

Rollerbury

In a departure from running while I recover from a heavy cold I have scanned some pictures from the 80's and 90's. Formerly based on Station Hill who remembers Rollerbury?

Opened in 1982 it has been closed 6 years now. I was never very good but remember going to an all night skate. I also remember in later years that Activity World with it's ball pons and netting was popular and I can remember visiting this on many occasions. Anyone else remember Rollerbury?

I have loaded a number of other pictures of Rollerbury on my flickr site click on the link on the left hand side if you want to view more.

Gt Saxham and Barrow Suffolk

1.pm 7.5 miles in 1 hr 1 mins 48 secs

Week to date mileage 7.5 miles

Month to date mileage 35

Average weekly rate 33.9 miles

Average monthly rate 143

Year to date 174

Lifetime 9767

After my recent run to Little Saxham I decided to visit her near neighbour Gt Saxham. I traveled out by car and went through Lt Saxham and took the Barrow road. Practically the next turning left takes you up hill to the village of Gt Saxham. I parked in woodland known as the Park just before you reach the church.

century so in 300 years theGt Saxham is named as the village of the Saxons. It is a small scattered village along a minor road which is surrounded by parkland. Population records show little change from 1674 when there were 17 inhabited houses , 52 in 1851 and 68 in 1981. I read somewhere that the average household would have been around 5 in the 17th/18th century but this dropped in the 19th population has grown from around 100 to 250.
I started my run from the church of St Andrews which has a commanding position in the centre of the village opposite the Gt Saxham Hall. As so often around these parts the grounds were designed by Capability Brown. Today the entrance through a small gate into a small woodland was covered in snowdrops.


I set off on my run through the Park an area of woodland which proved to be extremely wet and rutted. The path evidently well used was ankle deep in mud and more like a paddy field. However I was soon through it and continued past Lower farm. Here the ground begins to rise and I was able to look back at the Park woodland.


Faced with a choice of paths I rather lost the plot and decided to keep straight rather than turn left which I should have done to take me around the Hearse Wood. Instead carrying on I passed the Wilsummer Wood and I recognised the path I had run last year as being the one to take me into the village of Barrow.

I decided to run through Barrow and take the main road back to Gt Saxham. After the village green and opposite the pub almost is this unusual house.



I was able to run along pathway for some distance but found the road quiet and I was able to run along the road side without problem.


I turned back into Gt Saxham at Twite's Corner and ran past St Andrews Church and on to a small hamlet called Frizzelers Green and then Cob's Hall and on to the main road to Chevington at Potash Cottages. I turned back to the car i the bright but cold sunlight.

Mordaboys Wood Ickworth Park Suffolk

8.00am 10 miles in 1 hr 24 mins 17 secs

Week to date mileage 33 miles

Month to date mileage 27

Average weekly rate 33.2 miles

Average monthly rate 144

Year to date 166

Lifetime 9759

After yesterday clear skies today was a real pea souper and I debated whether to take the camera but in the end I decided to take it in the hope it would clear. The view over Horringer Farm was limited.


I decided to have a closer look at St Mary's within the grounds of Ickworth Park. It is a terrible shame that this church has been closed for at least 20 years. I don't know if there are any plans to tackle this as a restoration project perhaps with support from the National Trust. Buried here are are generations of the Hervey Family.


I continued down to the White House and along the old coaching road path besides the River Linnett.


I ran out as far as Mordaboys Wood where there is another White House before turning sharp right slightly uphill all the way back to Ickworth House.

It is always enjoyable running around Ickworth Park it is the combination of the beautiful countryside, the trees and the history which is just reaching out to tell you so many stories of the past.

Parkgate Woodland Walk Fornham St Genevieve

8.30am 10.2 miles in 1 hr 25 mins 49 secs

Week to date mileage 23 miles

Month to date mileage 17

Average weekly rate 33.1 miles

Average monthly rate 144

Year to date 156

Lifetime 9749

I set out on a cold and crisp morning and ran through Bury St Edmunds graveyard. Yes I do wonder if this is the right thing to do but graveyards are for the living and I would stop and walk if I saw anybody else paying respects but there was no one else there.
I continued through the graveyard and out at the top of Kings Road ,before running downhill to Risbygate St. I crossed over and up Grove Road towards the schools. St Edmundsbury Primary School was was my 2nd school after Victoria Street Infant School so it always brings back various memories running past.

The Grove Road Community Garden is new to me anyway I haven't seen this before , but not to say it hasn't been here a few years.

I ran along Spring Lane before emerging from the back of King Edwards School near Springfield Rd and Tayfen Lane and up over Station Hill. Along Fornham Rd,I stopped at the Seventh Day Adventist Church just beyond the railway bridge to get a picture of this bright green building.

Nearly opposite are the ruins of the 13th century St Saviour's Church. Little remains and it is now penned in by Tescos.


I continued along Fornham Rd and through Fornham St Martin before taking the turning into Parkgate Woodland Walk. Here the snowdrops are plentiful.


There is little to see from here of the old Fornham Hall Estate but you can see the ruin of a church destroyed by fire in 1782.


Although quite small this is an interesting woodland walk, you can park your car outside and read the many information signs dotted around. It is a bit wet in places so the duckboards come in handy.

Bury St Edmunds - interval session

5.30 pm 7 miles in 56mins

Week to date mileage 12.4 miles

Month to date mileage 7

Average weekly rate 31.9 miles

Average monthly rate 146

Year to date 139

Lifetime 9732

As I missed the track session at the West Suffolk Arena I decided I would do something a little harder than a steady training run. I ran a pyramid fartlek session! Difficult to do on your own and I thought it was a tough session.

To explain what this entailed. I warmed up for a mile and then ran a serious of intervals starting with 2 minutes, then 3 , 4 and 5 minutes allowing myself a recovery of half the time of the interval at a slower pace. The other side of the pyramid is a reduction in the intervals starting with 4, 3 and then finally 2 minutes.

It means 23 minutes of fairly hard running at a faster than comfort pace which is excellent training and is known as a fartlek session.

I warmed down for the final part of the run feeling I had worked hard.